Bubblegum Cris-Icz 4: Say Yes!
by IczelPrime
Summary: Old friends and new enemies haunt the Knight Sabers now...
1. Episode 1: Sisterly Vision

Disclaimer: all characters, mecha, events, etc. depicted here are the property of their creators. This is not a challenge of any sort to that ownership, so please don't sue me, I have no money!  
  
Explanations:  
-Notation: I will be using several types of narration in this fan fiction. It will be punctuated as "Speech", [Thought], and {Sending (using some form of mental communication.)} I will also use some of the Internet punctuations for emphasis, ranging from 'slight', through _medium_, *strong*, and SHOUTING!   
  
Previously:  
At the end of Iczelion Act 2, the enemy leader Chaos is not yet defeated, and the mystery of where the Iczels' creators (the Iczers) are is unresolved. In "my" timeline, it takes the Iczelions three years to finally destroy Chaos and his forces. After that, three of the Iczelions - Nami Shiina, the Black Iczelion, Kiro, the Gold Iczelion, and Kawaii Kawaii, the Silver Iczelion, decide to leave Earth and search for the Iczers. Nagisa Kai and her Iczel partner, Normal-Type, remain behind. Nagisa pursues her wrestling career, using a "noble alien warrior" character gimmick and becoming quite rich. In 2010, she marries, and in 2015, her son, Sean Kai, named for his grandfather, is born. Unfortunately, Brian, the father, becomes a vocal anti-GENOM protester and dies in a "mugging" in 2020. Sean is scanned by Iczel and proves to be able, as his mother is, to 'synchronize' with an Iczel to create Iczelion. Under the guise of preparing him for a pro wrestling career, Nagisa begins training Sean to succeed her as the defender of the Earth. Sean is, in fact, the main character of our story.  
  
In early 2032, Nagisa Kai is injured while training in Germany and cannot return to MegaTokyo to continue stopping rogue Boomers. She phones Sean at home and arranges to introduce him to Iczel. Unfortunately, the introduction does not go well as Sean deduces that his seemingly independent life has been guided toward joining Iczel for years. Sean sends Iczel away, but not before she raises some points that eat at Sean's conscience. Sean goes to the Fitness Bee to speak to Linna, his current sensei, but she's busy. Sean spars with a training Boomer to pass the time and in his disturbed emotional state, first damages and then destroys it. Linna witnesses this and talks to Sean, but the way he phrases his 'moral question' makes Linna suspicious. She gives Sean some advice, which leads to Sean reconciling with Iczel.  
  
In his first combat action as Iczelion, Sean engages and destroys a C-class Boomer that escaped an A.D. Police blockade. He meets Leon McNichol afterward and is mentioned in a report given to Nene, who shows it to Sylia. She deduces that Iczelion uses a force-field defense system and determines to watch for this new player.   
  
In April, Sean has to break off a training session with Linna so she can take the day to cheer up her friend Irene Can (See BGC 2: Born To Kill.) Hearing Linna's cry of distress as the assassin Boomer tries to kill her, Sean works his way ahead of the chase and crashes his 'cycle into the Boomer, saving Irene's life. The Boomer tries again, but Linna flees with Irene while Sean distracts the killer machine. He himself is unable to break away to become Iczelion, and almost dies before Sylia arrives in her hardsuit in response to a call from Linna. The two note a mutual attraction, but write it off as stress reactions.  
  
Later that night, Iczel detects the Knight Sabers on their way to the Kawasaki facility to kill the SuperBoomer. Sean follows as Iczelion, and interjects himself into the battle between Nene and an assassin Boomer. The SuperBoomer arrives, but is destroyed when its head armor is stripped away by the Knight Sabers and Sean drives two beam swords into its head and detonates them. Sylia, fascinated by the capabilities and compassion of the mystery warrior, tries to call him to them, but Sean flees, fearing she'll recognize his voice from earlier that night. The next morning, Sean and Linna see Irene onto a plane bound for Hong Kong, where she has relatives and should be safe from GENOM.  
  
Two months later, Brian J. Mason lures the Knight Sabers into a trap at Wiz Laboratories with a fake job offer. Modified 55-C Boomers use chest-mounted sonic projectors to render the Sabers helpless. Sean, following the Sabers as Iczelion, uses his force field to damp out the sound, and destroys the Boomers. Sean and Sylia talk for the first (?) time as Iczelion and Knight Saber, neither knowing that they've been aquainted for years, through Mackie. One Boomer, only damaged, attacks Sean. He destroys it with a German Suplex, again raising Linna's suspicions, as she knows how much he likes that move. The next morning, she confronts him about it, but can't express her full knowledge without giving away her role as a Knight Saber. She remains suspicious, but can't prove anything.  
  
*****  
  
In July, Sean is training as Iczelion when he notices a bike gang chasing a restored Griffon II on the highway. He has difficulties discouraging them without hurting anyone, but finally scares them off, thereby saving J.B. Gibson and his fiancee Naomi. (This voids the events of BGC 4: Revenge Road.)   
  
In mid-August, BGC 3 begins, and two BU-12-B Boomers are loosed in MegaTokyo. Sean engages them only to discover that their armor is highly heat-resistant, rendering his weapons ineffective. Nevertheless, he literally disarms the first Boomer by detonating a beam sword _inside_ its right arm railgun. The second still manages to trash Silky Doll and kill the A.D.P. K-11 battlesuit fighting it before dying at the hands of the A.D. Police.  
  
The next evening, Iczel detects the Sabers headed for GENOM Tower, and Sean rushes ahead. Discovering two 'sonic cannon' model BU-55-C's waiting in ambush with Mason, he manages to disable them just before Sylia and Nene arrive. Mason's armor plate is identical to a BU-12-B's, so Sean is unable to do much in the Sylia/Mason battle. When Mason grabs Sylia, Sean tries to throw a beam sword into the 'sensor eye' of Mason's armor, but kills him instead when Mason opens his helmet to gloat over Sylia. Traumatized by his act of manslaughter, Sean passes out, and the Sabers bring him back to Sylia's penthouse.  
  
The Sabers are hard put to it to bring Sean out of his depression, but Sylia finally manages it. Sean complains that he already knew most of the Sabers in their civilian ID's: Sylia and Mackie from Raven's Garage, Priss from her singing (though they'd never _met_ before), and Linna as his martial arts teacher. That night, over dinner at the St. Regis Hotel, Sylia invites Sean to join the Knight Sabers, and he accepts.  
  
Sean is put through his paces in Knight Saber ability assessments and training: first in the simulator (see BGC 8: Scoop Chase) and then in the team combat exercise at the Survival Shot paintball facility. Sean reaches Level Seven on the simulator and responds to Sylia's sacrifice tactic in paintball with one of his own: self-sacrifice. By making a moving target of himself, he'd been shot, but distracted Sylia from Linna long enough that Linna could shoot the elder Stingray.  
  
Sean suffers from guilt-induced nightmares about Mason, himself, and murder, but hangs in there, bolstered by the Sabers' moral support and by Sylia keeping him too busy to think about it most days.  
  
In October, a program planted in Sylia's computer by the Skorpion 19 (see the BGC: Grand Mal manga or graphic novel from Dark Horse Comics) informs Sean by E-mail about Sylia's intellectual enhancement. He brings her to see the files, and she realizes this was triggered by her diary entries expressing growing affection for Sean. Near despair, she tells Sean about both her and Mackie's alteration and the 2031 episodes with the Skorpion. She's about to leave when Sean realizes he cares deeply for her, too. One thing leads to another, and the two - ahem - spend the night together.  
  
The next morning, an apprehensive Sean is stunned when Sylia 'hears' him "sending" to Iczel. A few experiments ascertain that Sean and Sylia are now mentally linked just as Sean and Iczel are. They discuss what it means to be a person - Sean having decided because of Iczel that 'human' shouldn't be the defining term. Sean states that in his opinion, the deciding factor is whether one can care about others.  
  
*****  
  
In April 2033, Sean suffers what will later prove to be both his last nightmare about Mason and his first precognitive dream. Waking up at 3 a.m., Sean is surprised to find Sylia is _still_ working on the new armor and motoroid designs at Raven's Garage. He 'persuades' her to go home by turning off the music and aromatics she was using to stay awake. That evening, riding on the western highway, Sean is almost caught in the crash of an Orca space shuttle. Searching for survivors, he meets Sylvie and Anri, and in a fit of sympathy lets them stay at his home. Unable to ignore their attractiveness, he moves out to live in Sylia's guest room, swearing not to tell who Sylvie and Anri are after Sylvie confides in him.  
  
After the Knight Sabers meet to discuss their next job, Sean finds himself sitting on the horns of a dilemma. He's found out that Sylvie and Anri are 33-S Boomers, and they may have the Battlemover that the Sabers are supposed to find. Almost too late, Sean remembers about 33-S's blood needs, and intervenes just in time to keep Sylvie from becoming the Vampire Murderer.   
  
By the time Sylvie goes to GPCC, Sean still hasn't resolved his conflict of interest. He saves her from the first Boomers as Iczelion, but gives his identity away by accident. A second set of Boomers attack in the Canyon, and Leon arrives in his K-12 Armored Suit just after they're disposed of. Sean tries to talk his way around Leon, but Sylvie's wound bleeds her out, and the J-1 takes over, knocking Sean unconscious. He recovers just in time to save Sylia after she'd been grabbed by the D.D., and saves Sylvie's life by cutting her and her seat out of the Battlemover, severing the link between the two without killing Sylvie.   
  
Sylia does not take well to not being told the 'extra facts' that Sean knew about his guests, and she suspends him from the Knight Sabers. Worse, by the time Sean and a repaired Sylvie return to his house, Anri is gone and the place is a wreck! Sylvie goes to stay with Linna, and over the next week Sean searches fruitlessly for Anri.   
  
His searching is interrupted by the fake Knight Sabers' attack on a GENOM facility, complete with an Iczelion facsimile. Sylia shuts him out of the Sabers' response to this, so he goes to the Tinsel City Bank on his own. When the HyperBoomers reveal themselves, Sean is injured again, but manages to destroy his opponent. Sylia orders him not to intervene in their battle, so Sean leaves, but diverts to investigate Largo's satellite strike on the highway. He suffers system damage from getting caught in the fringes of a satellite strike, but pursues Largo and Anri to GENOM Tower anyway. Goaded into attacking too early by Largo's annihilation of GPCC, Sean's injuries are aggravated, and he can't save Anri when she throws herself between him and Largo. In shock from Anri's death, _and_ the revelation of Largo being Brian J. Mason, *and* the arrival of the HyperBoomers (meaning the Knight Sabers may have died), Sean can't put up an effective fight. Sylia arrives in the first of the new Motoroids, and Sean's will to fight returns. In a final confrontation, he uses a powered leaping kick to smash Largo's arm and shoulder, but dislocates his ankle doing it. The Knight Sabers arrive and fend off Largo's next satellite strike, Largo 'sends' to Sylia and is shocked when Sean replies the same way, and Leon shoots Largo off the edge of GENOM Tower. In the Knightwing, Sean swears to Sylia that he will tell her of any future information involving the Knight Sabers or their missions.  
  
  
Bubblegum Cris-Icz: Characters  
  
Sean Kai, son of Nagisa and our main character. He's 17 years old, rather short, at only 5' 9" tall (and growing), has brown hair, brown eyes, and is well-built. He's good at wrestling and several martial arts, and his training and natural agility have combined to make him incredibly hard to hit - as long as he can dodge. He's also *very* strong-willed, to the point where he could win a staredown with either Priss or Sylia.  
  
Iczel (Normal Type), Nagisa's partner as an Iczelion and soon Sean's as well. A brief note on capabilities; the basic functions of each Iczelion are the same, including firing energy beams, creating force fields and beam swords, and the changing or concealing of the human's features to keep from being recognized. The 'higher functions' of an Iczelion partnership are determined by the partners, however: Sean's are, as yet, unknown.  
  
Priscilla (Priss) Asagiri, the lead singer of "Priss and the Replicants," a popular rock band. Also a secret member of the Knight Sabers, serving as the assault specialist. Sean has seen Priss sing, and idolizes her as a rebel and (though he won't admit this) as a sex symbol.  
  
Leon McNichol, the best detective in the A.D. Police and leader of their 'tactical response teams,' or 'Tac Squads' for short. He and Sean don't know each other, but have bumped elbows at Priss' concerts.  
  
Nene Romanova, at 19 one of the youngest computer/communications specialists in the A.D. Police - and made even more special by the fact that she serves the Knight Sabers in a similar way, albeit from a hardsuit and not from HQ. She doesn't know Sean either, but is the closest Knight Saber to his 17 years of age. Her perpetual 'cute and innocent' attitude is a nice balance for the grimness of the BGC series.  
  
Mackie Stingray, Sylia Stingray's teenage brother and a friend of Sean's ever since the two met at Raven's Garage in 2030. Mackie lost a bet to Sean and had to soup up Sean's prized motorcycle. Mackie is a technical assistant to the Knight Sabers and a bit of a lecher, but he has a secret that he may not be aware of... (see Sylia Stingray)  
  
Sylia Stingray, founder and leader of the Knight Sabers, inventor of their unique "hardsuit" combat armor, and daughter of the renowned Doctor Katsuhito Stingray, who invented Cyberdroids, the artificial humanoids now called "Boomers." Sylia always acts cold and distant, and there is good reason for this. In the BGC: Grand Mal comic series (Available from Dark Horse Comics,) it was revealed that, in order to counter the abuse that GENOM was certain to put his inventions to, Dr. Stingray used an experimental nanotech process on his two children, changing their brain structure biomechanically to give them hyperintelligence. Sylia sometimes wonders if she's even human anymore...  
  
Linna Yamazaki, an aerobics and martial arts teacher at the Fitness Bee, one of MegaTokyo's more successful health clubs. She's also the close combat specialist of the Knight Sabers, and is currently Sean's martial arts instructor, having been impressed by how well he did (before losing) in a match they fought in 2031.  
  
Sylvie (later Liberte), a 33-S Boomer - a Sexaroid. This brown-haired, green-eyed knockout suceeds very well at her design objective of exuding sex appeal, but has had a hard life as a slave on Genaros Space Station before escaping to Earth. She made the attempt with four friends, all 33-S Boomers like herself - Nam, Meg, Lou, and the 'little sister' of the group, Anri, who was the only other one to reach the surface alive. Her sex appeal is enough to make Sean nervous if he's forced to be around her for any length of time.  
  
  
David Gordon's (E-mail to: Laereth @ wiznet.ca)  
Bubblegum Crisis/Iczelion crossover:  
  
Bubblegum Cris-Icz 4: Say Yes!  
  
Sean Kai stretched in his bed early one June morning. As the sun shone more light into the room, Sean cleared his mind of after-sleep fog by going over the events of the last two weeks.  
  
[Hmm,] he thought, [let me see... I'll start just after Largo bit the big one. Iczel reminded me of Anri's last words, because they hinted that Anri and Sylvie might be falling for me, which was bad, because I'm in love with Sylia. When I went to Linna's apartment to talk to Sylvie and settle that, it was awkward because I let Anri die in GENOM Tower when Largo attacked us. Sylvie said I was one of the two people she cared most about after Anri's death, the other was Priss, and she hadn't decided whether she wanted to pursue a relationship with either of us. That was bad, too. I have Sylia, and Priss may be in love with Leon (snicker.) I found out that Largo didn't _just_ attack GPCC with his particle-beam satellites - he hit GENOM Towers all over the world, and thousands died. That was really, really bad. If I'd only known! Still, it's an ill wind that blows no one any good: GENOM's been too busy rebuilding to cause trouble, which means the ankle I dislocated kicking Largo's fist has had time to heal. I'm back on good terms with Sylia after apologizing - well, we both apologized - and swearing to tell her about future info affecting the Knight Sabers. That's very good, because she was not pleased to hear that Leon may have compromised my and Priss's civilian identities during that D.D. fiasco. That was bad, but the worried expression on Leon's face when Priss and I cornered him later was worth it. You'd have thought he was afraid we'd kill him! Anyway, Priss and I agreed with Leon that we'd be a sort of 'information exchange' - Sylia's idea - between the Sabers and the A.D.P., so they get the busts and we, unofficially, get to stop worrying about arrest. Leon swore an oath to Priss that he wouldn't tell about our identities - I thought it was me standing there for a second! And she jumped him and kissed him afterward! I am definitely gonna razz her about that. I mean, she got him in _public!_ Wow, she might really have it bad. That may be good or bad - we'll see. Sylvie asked Sylia about working in the shop - I mean Silky Doll - so she has a job now, something to do with herself. That's good, she was really bummed for at least a week after Anri died. That was... the day before yesterday. All that happened yesterday was the announcement of Vision's concert at the Tokyo Dome, so I guess my brain is officially up-to-date. Time to get up!]  
  
Downstairs in his small kitchen, Sean was fixing pancakes for breakfast when the doorbell rang. Jogging to the door, Sean opened it to reveal a rushed-looking courier. The girl held up an envelope.   
  
"Are you - " she checked her clipboard. "um, Sean Kai?"  
  
"Yes, I am," Sean responded. "How may I help you?"  
  
"Sign here, please; this envelope is for you."  
  
"All right," and after a glance at the form, Sean scribbled his signature onto it. "What is it?"  
  
"We offer confidential delivery, sir; I didn't look."  
  
"Oh. I see. Well, have a nice day!" Sean called as the courier ran back to her truck. [Now what could this be?] he thought. [The only things that get sent by courier in this age of faxed newspapers are large items, which this is not, or stuff that has to be authenticated, so it has to be an original, not a computer copy. So what's this?] he mused, hefting the business-size envelope. Unable to contain his curiosity, he opened it and scanned the contents.  
  
And sat dumbstruck for a full minute before looking again. [Yup, I was right.] Finally pulling his thoughts back into order, he 'sent' a message to Sylia.  
  
{Sylia? Are you awake?}  
  
{_Very_ recently,} her thought came back with overtones of a yawn. {So why are you calling me scarcely half an hour after dawn?}  
  
{Umm... Is this a significant or important day, Sylia? Should I have remembered it for some reason?}  
  
Sylia's reply was a bit annoyed. {Not that I know of, Sean: now why are you being so cryptic? Genius or not, I'm not fond of riddles this early in the morning.}  
  
Sean paused for a moment. {Oh, it's nothing much: but _someone_ just sent me, by courier, one _front-row seat_ to Vision's upcoming concert, which I could only scalp for a few hundred _thousand_ yen if I tried, and a *Backstage Pass* to meet Vision and her band, which has my name and picture on it, so I can't scalp it, but if I could, I could retire in luxury! I thought _you_ sent them!}  
  
Shock rippled from Sylia to Sean and back again along the link. {No, Sean. _I_ didn't send it.}  
  
{Well, if _you_ didn't... Who *did?!?*}  
  
  
Episode 1: Sisterly Vision  
  
On Tuesday, two days later, Sean was sitting in the lounge at Raven's Garage, none the wiser about who had sent him the ticket and pass. He was none too happy about it, either. [This is nuts! I checked in with my usual radio and Interactive TV stations to see if I'd won a contest or something, but no luck there. Today, I talked Nene and Mackie into hacking into the courier firm's data to see if they had any information, but we had to use the computers here at Raven's because Sylia won't let her computer system be used for personal business. Still, the whiz kids managed the hack easily enough, but all we could get was the point of origin - the St. Regis Hotel. The @%#$ firm must keep most of their data on hard copy to preserve their - what's the word I'm looking for? Oh yeah, confidentiality. Still, the St. Regis makes sense - anyone staying _there_ would have the money to arrange these little prizes and never miss it. Problem is, the St. Regis also keeps secrets for its patrons. Heck,] he mused with a grin, [the rumors say that the concierge will arrange for - ah - 'paid companionship' if a guest asks! Can't let _that_ leak or it'll be all over the scandal rags by the next morning! So I'm at a dead end. Maybe I'll ask Priss - she knows more about detective stuff than me. Heck, maybe more than Sylia!] Sean stood to leave, then stopped as the radio formed the words "St. Regis Hotel."  
  
The broadcaster continued. "So Vision's much-anticipated arrival comes in two days, and she'll be hosting a press conference at the St. Regis, where she'll also be staying. Rumors say she made her reservations by hard copy, no less, the papers arriving on the weekend, delivered to the manager himself! Virtual wink, folks, I wonder if she made any _special_ arrangements?"  
  
The rest of the announcement faded into the background as Sean thought about what he'd heard. [All right, Vision could obviously get her hands on the ticket very easily... and it's a cinch she at least _knows_ about the backstage pass, the lead performer usually has to approve that sort of thing. So as the detective shows say, she had method and opportunity, so she's a suspect. But that leaves the question of motive: *why* would a superstar singer send _me_ a gift like this?]  
  
He mulled it over for a while, and had no luck. [Well, better let it go for now.] He grinned. [I guess I'll have to ask her at the concert!]  
  
*** ***  
  
That evening, waiting at Sylia's apartment, he caught several flashes of amusement, and one of surprised dismay, from Sylia. He knew that she was meeting with Fargo about a job that night, but the 'flashes' of emotion across their mental link had to be intentional, a concession to his curiosity. [She's still a lot better at controlling 'leakage' than I am. I have more practice with telepathy stuff, but if I ever 'leaked' to Iczel, she didn't tell me.]   
  
He grinned. [And on the subject of leakage...] He'd run into Linna at the Fitness Bee, and she'd been there _way_ later than her usual hours. Linna had asked Sean to get Sylia's help finding Sylvie new lodging - preferably private. Sean had asked about that last stipulation, and Linna had told him more than he really wanted to hear. [Apparently, the internal adjustments Sylvie made to herself using the GPCC data she stole gave her a degree of control over her pheromones. The problem is, it's not entirely _conscious_ control. Sylvie went to bed early last night, and her Model-11 brain is such a good emulation of a human's that Sylvie has dreams. Last night's must have been a good one, because the next thing _Linna_ knew, she was getting hot, in a non-temperature sense, over in the next room! She really doesn't need that, so if Sylia and I can't find a home for Sylvie fast, I'll see about moving in here again and let Sylvie stay at my place.]   
  
Sean's mind drifted back to the job that Sylia was meeting Fargo about. [This will be my first job acting together with the Knight Sabers,] he thought. He didn't count the D.D. mission because he'd had to keep things from his friends, thanks to his vow to Sylvie and Anri. [I can't wait! Hmph, that's probably why Sylia let her feelings leak, so I wouldn't be totally on the dark. As I told her before, the woman cares, more than anyone else I know.]  
  
Sylia returned home most of an hour later. Sean, bursting with curiosity, met her at the door to the apartment. "Run into traffic on the way back?," he asked.  
  
Sylia smiled at him. "No, Sean, I had a pleasant drive, thank you. It _is_ close to half an hour's drive from here to the amusement park." One side of her mouth quirked higher as Sean came close to doing a double take.  
  
"The amusement park? The one on the outskirts of the city? Why were you _there?_ I thought you usually met Fargo at that bar - what's it called, C'est La Vie!"  
  
Sylia's smile didn't dim as she replied. "Yes, but Fargo varies our meetings occasionally to keep from being predictable. This was one of those times. We have been hired to bodyguard one Doctor Richard MacLaren, a researcher in the field of endoskeletal motive systems employed by the Gulf and Bradley corporation. He is in Japan working on a joint project with GENOM." Now Sylia did lose her smile. "Apparently someone with very powerful weaponry, like a Battlemover, is after him, and he wants us to protect him - discreetly, so even _he_ doesn't know who or where we are. I accepted the assignment, but bodyguarding someone associated with GENOM doesn't sit well with me."  
  
Sean smiled at her. "Then here's a problem we can come to grips with and smile." In a few sentences, he outlined Linna's problem with Sylvie and her request to find the Sexaroid new housing.  
  
Sylia covered her smile with one hand, but she still 'leaked' amusement. "Oh, my... I can understand why Linna wants her privacy back, then. The problem is, I'm not aware of any convenient housing openings in the near future, so our only option may be-"  
  
Sean finished the sentence. "-to have her move back into my place and I can come back here for a while." Sylia stared, and Sean said, "I thought about it while I was waiting for you. The only other place I know of was the guest room here, and with her current feelings about being touched - or looked at - without permission, we might have been signing Mackie's death warrant. By the second or third time she caught the Mackster peeping, she'd probably mesmerize him into going to Priss and confessing about his last ten good gawks! That could be lethal!" Sylia stared at Sean for almost five seconds before her composure broke. A smile became giggles, which were then choked down into a fiendish grin. [Uh-oh,] Sean thought, [That's trouble...]  
  
Sylia, having just entertained thoughts of bringing Sylvie in to put Mackie through various embarrassing consequences for his past voyeurism, blocked the inappropriate line of thought and came back to practical matters. "Ahem. On the subject of living quarters, Sean, you are quite correct. I - well - suspected you wouldn't mind the arrangement. We can call a meeting tomorrow, and inform everyone then. As to our assignment, Mr. MacLaren is staying his last week-and-a-half here in MegaTokyo at the St. Regis Hotel. My tentative plans are to have Linna and Nene pose as hotel staff - I can get the concierge's cooperation. I will see to electronic monitoring, and you and Priss will be on standby with her hardsuit and Iczel in case heavy backup becomes necessary. Our assignment ends when the ten days are up, and we start when he moves into the St. Regis the day after tomorrow." Sean nodded, and headed for the phone to contact the Sabers about meeting tomorrow - and to tell Sylvie and Linna about the new living arrangements.  
  
*** ***  
  
The meeting went smoothly enough, but Sean was tired most of the way through the morning rendezvous. [Sleeping in a new bed always goes badly the first night,] Sean thought. He was halfway out of the just-concluded meeting when Priss grabbed him by the arm.   
  
"HEY! I called you at least three times! Earth to Genaros Sean, are you there?!" she yelled.  
  
"WAH!! Okay, I hear you! Sorry, I didn't sleep well and I'm kinda spaced out. So what do you want from me?" Sean cried, rudely snapped out of his stupor.  
  
"Well, you said Sylvie was going to your place today, right?"  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"And we, I mean the Sabers, don't have to do anything until tomorrow, right? I mean, Sylia said she'd do the arranging today."  
  
"Uh huh, so?"  
  
"So come on! Sylvie is still really bummed out about Anri," Sean winced, but Priss was looking forward as she dragged Sean toward the elevator and didn't see it, "and we are gonna cheer her up by taking her to somewhere she's never seen before!" Sean thought about the likely choices under that heading, referenced it with Priss's usual recreation activities, and drew a blank.  
  
"Uh, Priss - where are we going?"  
  
"First, we're gonna pick up Sylvie from Linna's and help her move back into your place. Then we're going to the amusement park for an all-night trip, or until Sylvie gets tired of it, whichever comes first!"  
  
[Uh-oh,] Sean thought, [Now I'm in for it...]  
  
*** ***  
  
Late that evening, at the amusement park, Sean was sitting on a bench watching Priss and Sylvie ride the roller coaster for the fourth time. [I was afraid of this,] Sean thought. [Sylvie learns really fast, and she acts so mature most of the time that I keep forgetting that she's been 'alive' for maybe five years at most. I don't mind roller coasters, but I had to bow out after the third run, and it doesn't look like Sylvie is slowing down at all. We could literally be here all night, like Priss said.] He looked up to see the girls getting off the ride, and finally deciding not to get right back in line for another turn. He pulled himself to his feet as they approached. "Well ladies, where to now?" he asked, showing an energy he didn't feel.  
  
Sylvie was looking all around her like a child. "Hmm," she mused. "We've been on the ferris wheel, the roller coaster, and the funhouse: why don't we go to the midway and see the games? I've always heard that there are great games at the carnival!" Sean had to smile; Sylvie's enthusiasm was contagious.  
  
Priss cried, "The games are this way! Come on!" as she ran off to their left. Sean smiled wider. [Maybe Sylvie isn't the only one with a child's enthusiasm here...] he thought as he followed her.  
  
A short jog later, the three were at the end of an aisle of game stalls. Old standbys like dart-throwing, roulette, fish pond, shooting galleries, and knock-down-the-bottles were mixed in with video games, Skee-Ball, and VR skill games. Sylvie headed for one of the dart games, which had truly archaic stuffed animals for prizes. One in particular, a silver-furred teddy bear nearly four feet tall, seemed to have attracted her gaze like a magnet, and Priss cried "I'll get it!" as she paid the stall owner 200 Yen for a game. She was handed three darts to try to hit a small silver star in the middle of a set of other targets. Priss threw... and missed. Twice. Then three times. Now frowning, she paid again. And missed again, all three times. Now getting frustrated, she paid double for six darts. And still missed. She was just fishing in her pocket for more money when Sean grabbed her wrist. "Hey!" she yelled. "I said I'd get it!"  
  
"Yeah," Sean answered, "but you can't have all the fun. It's my turn now," and he threw a glance at a giggling Sylvie as he finished in a lower voice, "and you've already cracked her up." Priss scowled and relented.  
  
"Okay," she growled, "let's see how _you_ do, Mr. 'My-Aim-Needs-Work'!" Stepping aside, she prepared to crow gleefully at each miss.  
  
*** ***  
  
Sylvie carried her new giant silver teddy bear toward the parking lot as Priss argued with Sean behind her.   
  
"I thought you said your aim stinks back at the Survival Shot!" Priss yelled.  
  
Sean took care to keep his reply cool and even. "I never said my _aim_ was bad, Priss. I said my _shooting_ was bad, but that's because my total experience with - ahem - gun-like weapons goes back to 2032 at the earliest! My _throwing arm_ is excellent, thank you, and you've seen it in action often enough!" Looking up, he realized Sylvie had stopped. There were three big, beefy figures standing by their bikes. One was sitting on the Mackiecycle, while the other two were pacing the area. The thugs looked up, and saw the three friends.   
  
"Oh, hi," the seated thug called. "Now listen, my two friends and I seem to have misplaced our rides, so we're gonna borrow yours. So you just hand over the keys nice and easy, and nobody gets-" he cracked his knuckles. The sound carried to the far corners of the lot. "-hurt."  
  
Sean grinned. [Oh boy, pal, did you pick on the _wroonng_ trio!] He put his hand on Priss's arm as she fished in her pocket for her gun. She stared at him.  
  
"Keep it in reserve, in case I get in over my head," he told her, and marched out to the thugs. The seated one held out his hand for keys, and Sean promptly spat in it and taunted, "I think you're not _man_ enough to handle _my_ cycle, asshole!" The seated thug exploded out towards Sean.  
  
Hardly moving, Sean caught his right wrist in a lock and used the man's own momentum to send him face-first to the ground. The other two thugs stared for a second, before the one on Sean's left cried,   
  
"Hey Rico, he thrashed Tony!"  
  
"Shuddap, George! Beat him!" snarled Rico as he lunged. Sean tried not to laugh - the man might have been drunk for all the balance he showed. A sidestep and a shove later, Rico's altered course took him into the side of a car, where he sat down, sorting it all out. George lashed out, playing it smarter than his friends, punching instead of grabbing. Sean got into a defensive stance long enough to break George's rhythm, then bent down and scooped George's feet off the ground, resulting in the thug's head bouncing off the pavement. Sean turned around to check on the other two, to find that Priss had stepped on Tony's head to pin it to the ground, and Sylvie was holding Rico against the car he'd hit with one hand. Sean chuckled.  
  
"Couldn't expect to get all the fun, now could I?" he asked. His two friends grinned at him. "Come on, let's go home."  
  
*** ***  
  
The next morning, Sean was in a room of a building adjacent to the St. Regis Hotel, passing the time while Sylia stood watch with him and Priss on the first day of their assignment.   
  
"Uh-oh, he's a lech," Priss said as she watched the monitors. MacLaren was watching Nene's rear as she carried her tray of drinks away from his lawn chair, out by one of the Regis' three outdoor pools. "Better be careful he doesn't grab you, Nene." Sean sat back in a chair and closed his eyes; he'd been around Mackie enough to tell MacLaren was a lecher almost from the beginning. He opened his eyes again a moment later when Sylia asked,  
  
"What is _he_ doing here?"  
  
Priss got to the monitor just ahead of Sean and looked. "Where, Sylia? I don't see anyone we know," she said.  
  
Sylia responded, in a vastly amused tone of voice, "Coffee shop, third floor." Sean looked at the indicated window and spotted Daley Wong and the Sabers' favorite A.D.P. officer, Leon McNichol, staring down at MacLaren. Daley seemed to be looking in the direction Nene had gone - [That could be trouble,] Sean thought.  
  
"Hmm," he mused. "Looks like he and Daley are interested in MacLaren too. I _wonder_ why, since he's here on a _joint venture_ with _GENOM_..."  
  
"Illegal Boomer construction, you mean?" Priss asked, but it was Sylia who answered.  
  
"It wouldn't surprise me in the least. His field of expertise is endoskeletal motive systems, and a large mecha answering the description of one that attacked the G&B building some months ago struck at a GENOM research facility several nights ago. If he's on his own time now, GENOM will no longer be protecting him, so he hired us. I'd say he's finished his part of whatever project he's working on and is worried that the attackers will come after him and not the project."  
  
Sean frowned. "Great. Leaving aside my personal feelings about all this, should we have given him more than that signal bracelet to track him with? It could be removed so easily."  
  
Sylia shrugged. "That's all he would accept. We must respect the client's privacy!"  
  
*** ***  
  
Two more days went by, uneventful days that stretched Sean and Priss's patience with each other. Sylia remained imperturbable, as usual. Finally, as it grew dark, MacLaren phoned out for another prostitute. Sean 'sent' to Sylia to avoid disturbing the stir-crazy Priss. {Is he getting _another_ call girl?! Wow, three nights in a row! Well, either he's in better shape than I thought or...} He grinned as he let the thought trail off, knowing Sylia would ask about it.  
  
Sure enough, she 'sent'; {Or what, Sean? Does this have any significance?}  
  
Sean's grin threatened to take in his face as he replied. {Or his girls don't know their business as well as you do. I mean, _one_ night with you is enough to satisfy me, and I'm a lot younger and more fit than that geezer!} Sylia choked and turned red, and Sean tried not to laugh. Priss, now interested in what was happening, looked from Sylia to Sean.  
  
"Alright, what's goin' on?" she demanded, staring pointedly at Sean. "What'd you say that I didn't hear!?" Sean regained control of his mirth, then replied.  
  
"Oh, just noting that Sylia's better in bed than MacLaren's call girls."  
  
Priss looked at Sean like a cat at a canary. "Oh, really? Know them professionally or personally, Sean?" Now it was Sean's turn to sputter and blush to his hairline, while Sylia and Priss grinned. Sylia's grin in particular held an element of 'serves you right!'  
  
The merriment was cut short by a hushed broadcast from Linna. Nene was absent that night, having been roped by Leon into helping him dig for data on MacLaren.  
  
"Sylia! Are you there?" Linna called. Her maid's uniform included a pen with a radio in it, and she was now speaking into it. "MacLaren has collapsed! There's something familiar about the girl he called in tonight: I'm going to follow her. The hotel bodyguards called the hospital, and an ambulance is on the way! Keep an eye on him! Linna out."  
  
The three in the room stared at each other for a moment before Priss ran for the van (and her hardsuit) while Sean summoned Iczel, who cruised out of a dark corner of the room as if she'd been there all along, and merged into Iczelion. Barely two minutes later, the ambulance pulled up at the hotel doors. Sean watched from high overhead as two burly paramedics hauled MacLaren out on a stretcher. Then he saw a _second_ ambulance rushing toward the St. Regis.  
  
{Sylia?} he sent. {Has the St. Regis called the hospital for anyone else besides MacLaren?}  
  
The reply was not long in coming. The first ambulance was just pulling out of the driveway as Sylia sent: {No, Sean, Mr. MacLaren is the only emergency at the moment. Why?}  
  
{Because I think-} the second ambulance entered the main driveway just as the first pulled out the side exit. {-there's another ambulance on its way. MegaTokyo General Hospital is about five minutes' drive from here, right?}   
  
Sylia's reply came over the radio. "I see it now. Sean, Priss, pursue that first ambulance: if their route, or anything else, is out of the ordinary, get MacLaren out of there and detain the 'medics'."  
  
"Got it, Sylia!" Priss cried, evidently excited at the idea of action. "Hey, over here!" she called to Sean from her rooftop. Sean dove to her, snatching her hardsuit by the waist in a maneuver he and Sylia practiced. The original idea was for one of the flyers to get one of the others out of harm's way fast, but it also worked for pursuit situations. Hardly burdened by the 75 kilograms of hardsuit thanks to Iczelion's tripled strength, Sean soared after the ambulance, staying close until one of the bodyguards was thrown out of the ambulance, unconscious.  
  
"Think that qualifies as 'out of the ordinary?'" Priss asked sarcastically. Sean didn't bother to answer: he was already diving toward an intersection in front of the speeding van. The driver braked sharply as Sean landed himself and Priss in its path. As the van stopped, Priss pointed her right-arm laser at it and cried, "Out of the ambulance! Right now!"  
  
A rumble to their right was their only warning. A twenty-foot tall mecha with four legs and a vague resemblance to a crab came *through* a warehouse wall to appear behind them, and both Sean and Priss lifted off in a hurry. Two ball turrets on the top of the mecha whirled to fire lasers at Sean, who defended with his field until he dropped behind the ambulance, and then at Priss, who dropped to the nearby bay and used her jet thrusters to kick up a huge cloud of spray. Sean sprang onto the bogus ambulance and fired his energy bolts at the mecha, first separately, then the large, double-arm bolt.  
  
They left visible pits in the armor, but no more. [Geez, that stuff's *thick!*] Sean thought. [I could pierce it with a sustained beam to one place, but it's probably resistant to my beam swords, too!]  
  
"Priss!" he called over the radio. "This bastard has really thick armor, try your railguns!"  
  
"Way ahead of you! HERE I COME!" her voice echoed down from overhead, and even as the mecha chopped at the spray cloud with its lasers and a huge underslung autocannon, she dropped on it from the sky, firing all three railguns and landing next to the jutting spikes to take advantage of any damage they'd done.  
  
She and Sean both stopped and stared as the spikes fell over, having failed to even penetrate enough to stick! Sean kicked back into motion as the mecha extended a tendril from its left front, aiming at Priss. "PRISS! LOOKOUT!"  
  
She spun just as the tendril reached her. It paused as if startled for a second, then whipped around her neck and lifted her off the mecha's top. Sean manifested a beam sword and pitched it spinning at the middle section of the tendril, severing it and freeing Priss. He hovered near the mecha as Priss rolled to her feet and leaped away. "Are you all right?" he called.  
  
"Just a bit breathless... WATCH OUT!" Sean spun around to see a second tendril, with its heavy sensor end, arcing straight at his face. It hit hard enough that he was out before he even started to fall.  
  
"Shit!" Priss cursed. The damned tentacle had hit Sean so hard he'd spun around four times before crashing, and his faceplate was off, which meant he was probably totally unconscious. She charged at the mecha, firing her laser full-auto. [Gotta get under it,] she thought. [Maybe there's weak points near the side of that cannon.] Her barrage apparently caused enough confusion to cover her approach, as the mecha's return fire was spotty. Skidding in close to the cannon, she saw what looked like an ammo drum. Grinning, she aimed at it. [Take this,] she thought. Before she could fire, the tendril that had hit Sean curled in beneath the mecha and snared her left arm. [Oh, shit...]  
  
From inside the Genki urban assault mecha, Irene Chang turned controls and whirled the armored woman around three times before lashing her into a wall. She laid still when Irene retracted the tendril. She then returned to her argument with Kou, the man sent by her grandfather to guard her and her sister Reika.   
  
"Kou, we're *not* going to kill that man. I recognize his face: it's Sean Kai, the boy who rescued me!" She shivered as she thought back to that night over a year ago. Her fiancé, a researcher at GENOM, had been killed in what GENOM had called an accident. Irene had confronted GENOM exec Brian J. Mason about it at a speech and been pulled away by her friend Linna, but not before accusing Mason of killing her beloved. Linna had spent most of a day trying to cheer her up, but the effort had been wasted when a GENOM assassin Boomer had herded Irene out to the highway to kill her. It had been holding her in the air with one hand when Sean, one of Linna's martial arts students, had crashed his motorcycle into it, and then fought it to allow Irene and Linna to escape. He'd claimed to have been saved by a Knight Saber, and now here he was using a frankly unbelievable suit of battle armor to fight beside the Knight Sabers. [I have to _know_ what's going on,] she thought, then said, "I'm going to bring him back with us."  
  
"WHAT?" Kou exploded. "We know next to nothing about him or his capabilities, and you..." she cut him off.  
  
"_I_ trust him, Kou. He saved my life, and we were going to tell him some of our story anyway when we met him at the concert, thanks to that backstage pass we sent." She'd gotten a good laugh out of imagining Sean's expression when that package arrived. So had Vision - Reika Chang, her sister. She continued: "We can leave him wrapped in the tendril until we know what's going on, but we _are_ bringing him with us."   
  
Kou sighed: [Miss Irene doesn't get stubborn about much,] he mused, [but when she does you have better luck begging the tide to go out than changing her mind. Oh, well...] He offered no further protest as Irene used the Genki's one operational tendril to scoop up the yellow-and-red figure, then coiled it tightly around his arms and torso. [Seems secure enough,] he thought. Returning to business, he guided the Genki off toward their warehouse hideout.  
  
*** ***  
  
Sean struggled back to consciousness against a pounding headache, an annoying immobility, and what felt like two tons of mush poured between him and alertness. As he came to, he realized that his holographic 'faceplate' was down again, and hurriedly brought it back online.  
  
[That's it,] he thought, [I am getting some kind of mask to wear under Iczel when I'm in action. This is dangerous, showing my face to all and sundry every time I get KO'd.] As he tried to roll off his back, he noticed the source of his immobility. He was lying on top of the mecha that had beaten him, inside a warehouse somewhere, and its tendril was coiled around his arms and torso. {Oh, wonderful,} he sent to Iczel. {Can we do anything to get out of this?}  
  
Iczel took a moment to reply. {Not with brute strength, Sean,} she reported, {but our 'outer', spherical, force field expands out from the 'inner' field when we activate it. Maybe...}  
  
Sean got the idea just as a voice cried from one side, "Hey, his faceplate thing is on again! Somebody call -" Sean didn't waste any more time, concentrating on the image of a sphere expanding outward from his body. He was rewarded by the sound of wrenching metal as the tendril lost its grip on him and he quickly slid out of its coils. Dropping to the ground, he dropped a beam sword into his right hand and visibly built up power for an energy beam around his left fist. Turning slowly to look around, he noticed several people frozen in the act of reaching for guns, and an open door on the second floor of the warehouse. Turning to the nearest man, he ordered,  
  
"All right. I want MacLaren and that's all. Someone bring him to me and I'm out of here." The man gave Sean a dark stare.  
  
"Forget it! We need him if we're gonna get -"  
  
Another man, short and squat, broke in. "Kumin! Shut up!"  
  
Sean sighed. "Look, I've just been hired to safeguard MacLaren. I'm not here to arrest anyone, and I don't want to do harm if I don't have to. You can't stop me without the mecha there," and he nodded back toward the Battlemover, "so why don't you cut your losses and give MacLaren back? It'll save you a beating and me some trouble."  
  
A quiet, female voice, vaguely familiar to Sean, cut in from above. "That's funny. I didn't think you'd have a problem fighting to save someone." Sean turned slowly to look at the balcony door. In the doorway stood a young woman, backlit by the room lights. She seemed familiar. The woman continued, "You didn't hesitate to fight that assassin Boomer to save me." Sean stared. It _couldn't_ be...  
  
Seeing Sean's stance change from defensive to astonished, she continued. "Yes, Sean, it's me, Irene Can. Actually, my real name is Irene Chang, but I changed it because I didn't want anything to do with my family then. I came back with my sister Reika to get revenge for GENOM killing my fiancé." A young man came out behind Irene holding a rifle. "This is Kou, a bodyguard our grandfather sent with us. He and I were piloting the Genki there," and she pointed to the four-legged mecha, "when I - err - I hit you with the tendril and knocked you out. I recognized you and brought you back with us so I could ask you what's going on."  
  
Sean's shoulders slumped. [Dammit, compromised *again*! Sylia's going to throw a fit!] He looked back up at Irene at the top of the stairs. "Irene, how does kidnapping a consulting researcher from another company fit into your revenge on GENOM? Oh, and by the way, I started working for the Knight Sabers after you left."  
  
Irene glanced back into the room she'd just left. "MacLaren is from Gulf and Bradley, the corporation that arranged for the death of my parents. Right now, though, he's a bargaining chip. We'll ask for a personal meeting with Quincy to make our demands for the return of the designer of his new Frontline Morale Destroyer battle Boomer. We don't intend to harm MacLaren, Sean."  
  
"Well, that's a relief." At the sound of a poorly oiled hinge, Sean turned around to see a girl in a revealing getup walk into the warehouse - and freeze at the sight of him. Irene jumped into the conversation before the newcomer spoke.  
  
"Reika, this is -"  
  
"-Iczelion, newest Knight Saber, acquaintance of Irene's, and current bodyguard to your kidnapping victim. We're just trying to talk out our differences." He turned to Irene. "You called her 'Reika'. I assume from what you said earlier that she's your sister?"  
  
Irene giggled, seeming like her old innocent self for a moment. "That's not all. Sean, meet Reika Chang, known to the world as Vision. I'm her new backup singer." Sean sat down abruptly on the leg of the Genki.  
  
Recovering, he muttered, "Well, now I know _why_ I got sent those tickets to the Vision concert." Reika's hearing was excellent, however, and she caught the statement.  
  
"Irene," Vision asked, "do you mean that _this_ is your rescuer, Sean Kay?" Sean's head came up, then he shrugged, sighed and dropped the faceplate.  
  
"Actually, the name is _Kai_, miss Vision. I have to admit, if someone had told me that _this_," and he waved at the Genki, the warehouse, and the men, "was the reason you'd started touring again, I'd have told them to go sober up somewhere." Sean, meanwhile, was thinking furiously. [OK, giving this bunch to the A.D. Police just went out the window. I don't think their revenge scheme is going to succeed, though - Sylia's mentioned that Quincy uses Boomer doubles almost constantly. Still, things just might work out.] Aloud, he said, "I _may_ have an idea about how we can resolve all this without fighting. Can I have a minute to think?"  
  
"Sure," Irene replied. Sean crossed his arms and ducked his head.  
  
{Sylia,} he sent, {this is Sean. Iczelion to Saber Prime, do you copy?} The reply was almost immediate.  
  
{SEAN! I hear you, where are you? Priss said you were knocked out before she was, then you were gone when she came to! Give me your position, and we'll be there as soon as possible!}  
  
{Easy, Sylia,} Sean replied. {I have a sore jaw, but I'm fine, and I'm currently negotiating with the kidnappers. You're never gonna believe this,} and in a short time he brought Sylia up to speed about the situation, MacLaren's project, and the Chang sisters' goal.  
  
{-so you see, I was thinking. We were hired to keep MacLaren _safe,_ right? So if the Changs aren't really going to hurt him, we don't have a problem?}  
  
Sylia's answer was tinged with annoyance and amusement. {I doubt a court would agree with your interpretation, Sean. It's lucky we operate under the table, isn't it?} It took Sean a moment to realize the implications of that statement. To the surprise of the watching Changs, he broke into a dazzling grin.  
  
{You agree! It's all right, then?}  
  
{Yes. Keep me informed of your location. Leon still has Nene occupied, Priss is recovering from a mild concussion, and I've lost contact with Linna. If the Changs have her, see if you can get her released. I'd prefer to be at full strength if a confrontation with GENOM is in the works.}  
  
{OK, Sylia. Signing off.} Straightening up, he turned to the Changs.  
  
"I'll probably take some heat from the boss for this, but I have a proposition. I accompany you wherever you take MacLaren, as an observer. What you do with Quincy is up to you, but I'll hold you to your statement that you won't hurt MacLaren. One way or another, you give up custody of MacLaren to me after you see Quincy. In exchange, I'll try to keep any of you from getting killed in the inevitable GENOM backstab. Good deal?" The sisters looked at each other and grinned.   
  
"We agree," they chorused.   
  
Sean smiled. "Yeah, you're in the same band all right. By the way, were you planning to keep me in the dark about the ticket and pass until the concert?" Sean's question went unanswered as the door squealed open again and a Chang guard led Linna in at gunpoint. Thinking fast, Sean put up his faceplate and murmured to Irene, "Linna doesn't know about me! She probably noticed your sister and followed her because of the family resemblance. Let's get her to promise not to tell the police and let her go."   
  
Irene looked at Sean, startled, then nodded and turned to whisper to her sister. A moment later, Irene and Reika went down to speak to Linna, who shortly looked appalled at the thought of Irene killing for revenge. Linna seemed hesitant to leave until Sean gave her a quick high sign, then promised by her friendship with Irene not to tell the police. Kou seemed uncertain, but only shook his head and let Linna leave. After that, all there was for Sean to do was wait as Kou phoned Quincy to arrange the meeting to 'negotiate for MacLaren'. At about 7:00 in the evening, the group left for the GENOM proving grounds out in Tokyo Bay.  
  
*** ***  
  
Sean stood watching from his concealed position as Quincy strode forward and asked Reika and Irene what they wanted. The two of them took turns explaining how they wanted revenge, but neither woman fired her pistol despite Quincy's taunt that his ambitions were so extensive that he'd had little if any knowledge of the misery he'd inflicted on them, though he didn't regret it. Sean's heart lifted.  
  
{I told you, Iczel, I *knew* they weren't killers!} Iczel had argued with Sean on the trip to the island about intervening, but Sean had resolved to let them settle the matter themselves. The discovery that Quincy was, as Sean had expected, a Boomer double had ended Iczel's worry but not the argument. Sean had been guiding Sylia, Priss, and Linna to him by 'sending', and they weren't far away. Now it seemed they might not be needed...   
  
'Quincy' raised a hand, and the helicopter he'd arrived in bulged as an *enormous* Boomer clawed its way out of the aircraft. Sean had time for one quick cry - {Now, Sylia!} - as he burst out of the boat and swooped in at MacLaren. The man gawked, and Sean plucked him off the ground and flew towards a small artificial island some five hundred meters offshore. He was peripherally aware that Kou had drawn a pistol and shot the Quincy double. Sean dropped MacLaren on the small islet.   
  
"I have to go back and help out, sir - you should be safe here," he said. Swooping off before MacLaren could protest, he headed back for the battle that had erupted between the Knight Sabers and Vision's 'Genki' Battlemover on one side and the huge Boomer on the other. The Boomer had snapped the Genki's one working tendril like a string and batted the Knight Sabers around. Just as Sean arrived, a building behind Linna exploded, wrenching a scream from his sensei.  
  
Laughter echoed from the downed Quincy double. "Ha ha ha! Oh, the island is laced with booby traps. So don't try and hide behind any buildings!"   
  
Sean blew its head to bits as he passed. "Shut up, Old Man."  
  
Moments later, he'd found that GENOM had once again used their heat-resistant armor plate, meaning he couldn't really damage the monster Boomer with his standard weapons. Priss was patching into the Genki's sensors to keep it in the fight and Linna was just hauling herself to her feet. Sean sent, {Sylia! Any ideas?}   
  
She paused for a moment before replying. {Not at the moment, Sean. If we could safely approach that thing I could use my vibroblades to open a gap in its armor to attack through, but it would swat us out of the air!}  
  
Linna must have been thinking along the same lines, because she cried out, "Irene! Reika! Immobilize that thing!" The Genki lunged at its foe, no slower even after almost losing one leg to a claw smash from the Boomer. Grappling the Boomer in a weird approximation of a bearhug, the Genki wrapped its front legs around its foe and held on. Not wasting her opportunity, Sylia lunged forward, closely followed by Linna and Sean. Sylia cut a hole in the Boomer's rear armor, Linna hit the gap with a Knuckle Bomb, and Sean imbedded two beam swords in there, leaving them to detonate as the Sabers leaped away. Irene cried out over the radio.   
  
"The Boomer just dug through to our powerplant! The Genki's going to blow!"  
  
"Eject, you three! Get out, now!" Linna screamed. The back canopy of the Genki blew off, flying down the street as first Kou and then Reika flew out into the air, to be grabbed by Sylia and Priss and taken toward the islet where Sean had left MacLaren. Sean and Linna watched for Irene, but her seat didn't emerge. The monster Boomer had wrapped a claw around it and was holding it in place. Both Knight Sabers leaped into action. Sean summoned energy into one of his gravitic strikes and smashed at the Boomer's wrist as Linna pried at the fingers, trying to loosen them enough to free her friend.  
  
"Save yourselves, you two! Leave me here!" cried Irene.  
  
"Forget it," Sean grunted as he hammered the huge arm. "I didn't save you from that assassin Boomer just to let you die for revenge." The wrist finally crumpled and Sean grabbed Linna, who was holding Irene's seat, and flew for all he was worth.  
  
When the Genki exploded, the shockwave not only wrecked the Boomer, it set off the bombs inside the proving ground. In seconds, the whole platform was a flaming ruin, but Sean had thrown up a force field to protect his passengers and they landed safely.   
  
Leon, Daley, and Nene pulled up to the islet in a boat shortly thereafter, and to Sean's vast amusement ignored MacLaren's claims about the entire group kidnapping him. Instead, Leon arrested MacLaren for illegal Boomer construction, conspiracy to conceal it, and soliciting prostitutes.   
  
Linna had a short talk with Irene and Reika about revenge and getting on with their lives, and both girls looked thoughtful. Then Leon escorted Reika, Irene, and Kou to their concert. Sean hurried to change so he could meet them there - he still had a seat and pass to enjoy!  
  
*** ***  
  
After the concert was over, Sean went backstage to see the sisters. Once they were sure they couldn't be overheard, Irene insisted on being brought up to date on Sean's story. He explained the relevant parts - leaving out the fact that his 'armor' was actually an alien artificial life form that could teleport. He also left out the identities of Sylia, Nene, and Priss - if Sylia or Linna wanted to tell the Changs, they could do it. It was the final question of the night, asked by Reika, that stuck in the memories of all three.  
  
"Sean," she'd asked, "Why do you accept this life? I thought I did it for revenge, but Kou killed the chairman of G&B and I couldn't shoot Quincy even with all the awful things he was saying." Sean was silent for a moment as he thought it over. Finally, he replied,  
  
"I think I do this to protect people. I lost my father when I was very young, so I didn't want to let anyone else lose someone if I could help it. I studied martial arts partially to become a wrestler like my mom, but underneath I knew it was to defend myself, or others, better. You might be the same, you know. You're not killers, you just didn't want to let anyone else's life get screwed up the way yours did. You only knew one way to stop the big corps from doing that, though." Irene looked pensive, Reika seemed doubtful. "Look, if the desire for revenge were _all_ that was driving you you'd have put a bullet through the double. You didn't! You had him there in front of you and you didn't fire! I think that means that, deep down, you know that you weren't acting to kill, but to prevent death. I think I'm right - whether you believe me or not is up to you." Reika's face had changed slightly, maybe a bit less skeptical. Sean shrugged. "So what will you do now?"  
  
Reika and Irene looked at each other, and chorused "E. E. Smith?"  
  
Sean was totally confused. "What?"  
  
Irene answered. "My boyfriend used to read these science-fiction novels translated from English. E. E. Smith wrote about a group of secret agents who defended the weak and used a huge circus as cover to move from place to place. I joked with Reika that a rock band would do just as well."  
  
Sean grinned. "So you'll make money off the band and rove around righting wrongs and making life hard on the corps? That's great! Remember to contact Linna and me when you come back to MegaTokyo! Knight Revengers, Go!"  
  
Their laughter echoed into the night.  
  



	2. Episode 2: Trouble in the Wind...

Episode 2: Trouble in the Wind...  
  
July in MegaTokyo. It was a hot day, but Sean Kai was cheerful as he made his way toward his home away from home. [Living with Sylia lacks some privacy, but there are fringe benefits. It's been just over a month now since I moved to the Lady's 633 penthouse to give Sylvie room at my place, and I've noticed that among other things, the air conditioning is better at Sylia's. Of course, Sylia herself is a definite plus, but I could do without Mackie's prying. Ever since he got over his outrage at Sylia and I becoming lovers, his hentai urges have made him nothing but trouble! It's a definite pain pulling the plug on the bedroom security cameras just to get some quality time!] Sean and Sylia had made love together several times since discovering their feelings for each other, but Sylia had not been amused to find that Mackie had used the building security system to make a video disc of their first night together at the penthouse. She had then erased the data both from the disc and the main system, and the lovers had taken precautions since then. Sean, in particular, gave Mackie an ultimatum.  
  
"Mackie," he'd said, "I understand your desire to see female anatomy. I don't mind your normal voyeuristic activity. However, if I EVER find out you have spied on my intimacy with Sylia again, you and I will go down to the Fitness Bee. There, we will go to the ring, and I will use _you_ for a sparring partner instead of one of the Mannequins. The - ahem - 'practice' will last *ten* minutes for *each* minute you watch, listen to, or otherwise spy on. Got me?" Mackie had nodded quietly and sped away to the workshop. Sean's musing was interrupted as he arrived at his destination.  
  
[Finally,] he thought as he wiped his brow, [refuge from the heat!] He walked through the first-floor lingerie shop, Silky Doll, nodded to Sylvie at the counter, and went up the elevator to the Stingray penthouse. Noticing Sylia in the living room, he waved. "Hi, lovely lady!"  
  
Sylia's head came up, and she smiled. "You're back! Excellent, I was afraid I'd have to call you." Sean frowned.  
  
"Has something come up, Sylia? Our next 'meeting' isn't due for another week."  
  
"Yes, Sean," she replied, "but it's not an emergency. I arranged a dinner for us all later tonight, and I knew you'd need time to clean up and get dressed."  
  
"Oh. Where are we going, and why?"  
  
"We have reservations for six at the St. Regis Hotel Restaurant. Given our last visit there, I imagine you suspect the reason."  
  
"A new Knight Saber! Sylvie is the only one who comes to mind, and I did overhear her asking Priss about our 'other lives' a week ago when we were out biking."  
  
"Precisely," Sylia replied. "She's an ideal candidate, with superior reaction time and she already has experience operating combat armor. I mean to ask her tonight. Obviously, you and the other Knight Sabers will attend, and you will extend me the same courtesy the others did when I invited you. _I_ am to be the one to tell her the true reason for the dinner. At the moment, she believes it's for discussing the Silky Doll and, in part, a social gathering."  
  
Sean raised an eyebrow - a mannerism he'd picked up from Sylia. "The timing, I notice, is also ideal for Sylvie. She's just discovering that what she wants isn't anonymous freedom, but to do something that matters. I think you timed it this way to give her a boost!"  
  
Sylia only smiled.  
  
*** ***  
  
Later that night, the group of five women and one young man were walking into the St. Regis Hotel's lavish restaurant. Nene, hanging back as Linna and Priss chatted with Sylvie, caught Sean's sleeve as they turned a corner.  
  
"Sean," she murmured, "I need to talk to you in private. Can you meet me after the dinner?" Sean, surprised, stared down at the A.D.P. commtech. Her eyes showed only sincerity, and she seemed uncomfortable.  
  
"Alright," he murmured back, "but why -"  
  
Nene cut him off. "I'll tell you later. Just offer to walk me to the taxi stand after dinner."   
  
Sean stared again. "The taxi stand!?"  
  
Nene swept her hand down to indicate her dress. "You don't think I rode my _scooter_ here wearing _this,_ do you?" Sean cleared his throat in embarrassment, and Nene joined Linna and Priss beside Sylvie.  
  
*** ***  
  
It was almost nine p.m. before the dinner was over, and Sylia and Sylvie were the first two to leave, an excited Sylvie plying Sylia with quiet questions about her new life. The sexaroid had accepted Sylia's offer gladly, once she got over her shock at being asked. Sean looked around the table, noting that Nene's cake (of course) was gone, as was his pastry, while Linna and Priss were still nibbling on their desserts. Making a decision, he stood.  
  
"Nene, as my ride for the night just walked off with her new protégé, and I doubt you rode your scooter here, might I share a taxi bill with you?" She looked up at him with her eyes full of laughter.  
  
"Why, certainly, Mr. Kai," she said with an impish grin, "and thank you kindly."  
  
She didn't explain her earlier request until they were in the parking lot. "Sean," she said finally, "I have something to ask you, and I'd be really, really thankful if you'd say yes." She stared up at him for a full ten seconds, until Sean became visibly nervous. Finally, she said, "I want you to teach me to fight better."  
  
Sean's first reaction was relief. [I was afraid that she wanted a relationship with me or something. At least it's only teaching her how to fight... hey, wait a minute! I'm no teacher!] Recovering his composure, he cleared his throat.  
  
"Ahem... Nene, why me? I'm not as good a fighter as Linna, I can't teach you how to shoot, and I'm not a trained instructor of any kind! Linna would be a better -" Nene cut him off.  
  
"She and Priss are so -- so *mean!* All they ever do is tease me about how bad I am at fighting! I was so depressed when I heard about _your_ test scores; I mean, even the new kid was better than me!"  
  
"New kid!?" Sean interjected, lightening the mood.  
  
Nene gave him a small smile. "Sorry, Sean - that's just what I thought at the time. I thought you'd be teasing me, too - I mean, the first two times we met, you saved me from Boomers. 'That is _NO_ way to treat a lady!'" she cried in imitation of Sean's voice, and they both laughed. Nene continued, "You didn't tease me. You didn't give me Sylia's 'silent disapproval', either. You always seemed so polite, even when I didn't do well. I want *you* to teach me because I had enough trouble getting up the nerve to ask someone to help me with this, I don't want someone laughing at me on top of that. Okay?," she finished, and made puppy-eyes up at Sean, who sighed.  
  
"I was so polite to you because I hardly knew you back then, Nene - I knew Linna well, Sylia somewhat, Priss slightly, and you not at all before I became a Knight Saber. I just noticed you seemed to hate getting ribbed about your fighting skills and kept my mouth shut. Linna and I tease each other about mistakes all the time, so..." his voice trailed off as he looked into Nene's big, soulful eyes. Finally, he looked to the heavens and shrugged.  
  
"Oh, all right. We can start next week sometime - I'll call you to work out a good time to meet. We can start off with T'ai Chi; that's excellent practice for getting your body to do _exactly_ what you tell it to." A taxi pulled up, and Sean waved Nene into it. "See you then, student!"  
  
"Hey!" Nene cried. "Aren't you coming?"  
  
Sean smiled. "Nope," he replied, "I'm flying home!" The cabby gave Sean an odd look, and Nene giggled, knowing Sean was referring to Iczel. As the cab pulled out, Sean thought, [Yeah, I'll see you next week, but I _really_ hope I know what I'm doing!]  
  
*** ***  
  
Sean, as Iczelion, flew into the Ladys 633 building through Sylia's sewer access. Separating back into Sean and Iczel, they parted company as Iczel headed for the computer room and Sean headed upstairs. He passed Mackie on the way.  
  
"How'd it go?" asked the younger Stingray.  
  
"Pretty well," Sean answered. "Sylvie's emotional sensitivity clued her in pretty early to the fact that something was going on, but she was still floored when Sylia asked her if she'd join the team. She said yes, if you haven't heard that already, and she and Sylia left earlier than the rest of us. Lucky thing I have alternate transportation!" Mackie chuckled at that. Sean continued, "So where are the ladies? Are they home yet?"  
  
Mackie became downcast. "Yeah," he replied, "they got home about twenty minutes ago. They went downstairs to take Sylvie's measurements for her hardsuit." Sean was puzzled.  
  
"So why are you still here, and so glum? I'd have thought you'd be gleefully spying on them - oh," Sean said as realization sank in.  
  
Mackie nodded sadly. "You got it - the door is locked, the security camera is shut off, and the computer link to the measurement scanner has been shut down by hardware, not software, at their end. There's a naked woman with incredible proportions down there, getting _measured_ of all things, and I can't even get a look at her!"  
  
Sean tried to hold it back, but couldn't - he broke out laughing. "Bwa-ha, ha-ha! Serves you right, you lech! Just think, if you hadn't tipped your hand to Sylia by overriding her computer lockout on the cameras to spy on her with me, you could be watching now! Maybe that'll teach you to restrain yourself!" Still laughing, Sean headed upstairs to the guest room.  
  
*** ***  
  
Later that night, Sean woke from a light doze to Sylia 'sending' to him. {Sean... Sean, are you awake?}  
  
{Now I am,} he replied. {What's up?}  
  
{Sylvie and I would like your opinion on the hardsuit design she prefers, especially as some of the weapons are based on Iczel's.}  
  
Sean rolled off the bed and headed for the door. {On my way!}  
  
On arrival at the basement lab door, he tried to open it, but found it locked. [Oh, right - Mackie did mention that.] Switching to 'sending', he called to Sylia. {I'm at the door, Sylia. Can I come in, please?}  
  
Sylia's reply was embarrassed. {Oops, I forgot about that!} A moment later, the door swung open. "I'm sorry, Sean," she continued audibly. He entered and shut the door behind him. For a moment, he wondered why Sylia and Sylvie were staring at him until he remembered he was only wearing his pajamas.  
  
"Whoops!" he cried. "I can go change, it won't take long -"  
  
Sylvie cut him off, grinning slightly. "It's all right, Sean. _I_ don't mind." Sean and Sylia both spent a moment staring at their friend before moving on.  
  
Sylia motioned Sean over to a screen on the CAD/CAM unit. Pictured there was a wireframe model of a hardsuit resembling Sylia's. It had the same flight wings as her suit, and like Sylia's, this suit also had power gauntlets on both arms instead of one. There were differences, however. This suit had vector thrust ports on the front of the shoulder pauldrons and front and back on each hip, there was a slight bulge on the right leg, and the configuration of the right and left gauntlets differed. Sylia began her explanation with the basic features of the suit. "The suit's armor configuration and basic electronics are similar to Priss's hardsuit, with one notable difference. The improvement has yet to be tested outside the laboratory, but I believe the armor can fully shield the internal systems from electromagnetic disturbances."  
  
Sean sighed. "What's that mean in plain language?"  
  
Sylia gave Sean a disapproving look. "It means," she continued, "that the suit systems won't shut down or go awry when exposed to a strong magnetic field or EMP. I've been worried about that possibility since the ambush where we first met as Saber to Iczelion. If one group tried an attack that bypassed our armor, others will too. If this works in the field, I intend to use this new armor in all our suits. Moving on, the thruster system is based on the one in my original hardsuit design. The major improvement is the set of additional vector thrusters," she said while indicating the thrust ports on the shoulders and hips. "In theory, the suit's airborne maneuverability should rival yours as Iczelion. The flight speed is lower than yours or mine, but it should be more than adequate. Currently, the armor protection of the suit is equivalent to Priss's, but if Sylvie proves adept at avoiding fire, I may lower that to increase the maneuverability. The real innovations of the suit are in the weapons systems," she continued, indicating the arms and the bulge on the right leg. "The right gauntlet holds an alternative to our current laser cannon. Externally it's similar, but instead of coherent light, the weapon uses a magnetic field to channel a high-velocity stream of plasma at a target. The range is somewhat reduced from the lasers, but there is no loss of accuracy in rapid-fire mode and the firepower delivered is superior to the upgrade I had in mind for my own lasers. In a storage pod in the right leg," she said while indicating the bulge, "is the next generation of close-combat weaponry." Sylia tapped some keys, bringing up an image up what looked like a hand grip for a sword or large knife, with an ellipse of field lines extending from one end to form the 'blade'.  
  
Sean recognized it from an earlier concept discussion between him, Sylia, and Iczel. "You mean you've actually gotten the MCPB to work!?" he cried. MCPB was short for Magnetically Contained Plasma Blade, an equivalent to Sean's beam swords. Sylia smiled at him.  
  
"Yes, although it needs recharging after a _very_ short duration - only thirty seconds of use, but in the storage pod it can recharge itself in less than a minute. Like your beam swords, it's a superior weapon to my vibroblades in most situations. I *had* wanted to integrate that function into the right arm plasma gun, but space restrictions were prohibitive." She frowned for a moment, then went on. "In the left arm is an array of two railguns that offer one major improvement over the design I used three of for Priss's suit. The rate of fire is significantly greater, such that the two guns can fire a total of ten railgun spikes in the same amount of time it takes Priss's array to fire six." Sean whistled.  
  
"That's pretty impressive! The only time I've seen those spikes fail to penetrate a target's armor was against the Genki battlemover, and that had more than ten centimeters of armor plate!" Then Sean's gaze wandered to the palm of the suit's left arm. "Hey, Sylia, what's that lens?"  
  
Sylia smiled. "Between examining your 'gravitic strikes' and Iczel's memory logs of your battle with Largo, I managed to engineer an energy-based impact weapon. It's similar in function to Linna's right-arm shaped charges, but with no ammunition limitations and actually capable of striking rapidly without causing structural stress to suit or wearer. I'm calling it the 'Impact Bomber'." Sean stared for a moment.  
  
"Uhm, Sylia," he asked, "how'd you do that?"  
  
Sylia smiled. "It's a variation on particle-beam technology. Instead of inducing a large charge into the particles, just enough is induced to make it possible to move the particles with a magnetic field. The charged particle field can be projected some ten centimeters at extreme velocity when proximity sensors in the perimeter of the lens detect an imminent impact. Since the field is moving aggregate particles and not a solid mass, the projection velocity can actually exceed the speed of sound." Sean watched as a simulation was shown on the screen of a hardsuit swinging an Impact Bomber punch at a BU-12-B Boomer. The Boomer's torso caved in, and Sean winced.   
  
"Ouch! Heavy hitter!"  
  
Sylvie chimed in. "That's not the best part, Sean. The field can be recharged in less than a second, so you could actually hit a target with a series of rapid jabs with that piledriver!" She smiled. "Looks like you'll have some competition soon!"  
  
Sean grinned. "I look forward to it."  
  
Sylia cleared her throat. "If I might continue..." No one spoke. "Excellent. This suit is designed as a jack-of-all-trades. It possesses sufficient maneuverability to scout, pursue, or serve as rapid reinforcement, while retaining good firepower at both short and long ranges and the durability to endure a pitched battle. As all our specialist roles in the field are filled, this was Sylvie's preference as a design concept. When the suit is completed, Sylvie will join us for training exercises and then move into field actions. I intend to detail a new field procedure to the others at our next meeting, one that we have used informally in the past. Sean, do you recall how, in battle, Nene and I would often remain paired as a unit on the sidelines while Linna and Priss took care of the close-combat work?" Sean nodded, and Sylia continued. "Good. I consider Nene and I the 'command' element of the team, and Linna and Priss the 'combat' element. Now that I've seen you in battle as Iczelion often enough, I want you to join the 'combat' element. Once she's an active member, Sylvie will join the 'command' element, so she can be more readily deployed to where she's needed if necessary. Is that clear?"   
  
Sean nodded, but Sylvie looked at Sylia in annoyance. "Don't leave it there, Sylia, tell him the rest!" the 33-S stated.  
  
Sean looked at the two ladies in turn. "The rest?" he asked in a worried tone. Sylia glared at Sylvie.  
  
"Listen, Sylvie, I have my reasons -" The sexaroid cut her off.  
  
"And I already told you, I don't agree! If you're gonna make him leader of the combat team, you should tell him NOW!," she cried. A moment later, the stunned look on Sean's face registered in the angry mind of Sylvie. "Whoops..." she murmured.  
  
"Uh... Leader?" Sean asked in a tone of voice that said he was 'not quite there'. Sylia, her expression carefully controlled, turned with excruciating slowness to regard Sylvie. Sean suddenly remembered the last time he'd seen that expression on her face: he'd been confessing how much he knew about Sylvie in the wake of the D.D. fiasco, and he knew she'd felt about ready to kill him. Sylvie's emotional sensitivity easily picked up Sylia's mood, and the newest Knight Saber edged toward the door.   
  
"Um, maybe I'll just go home to bed now." And in indelicate haste, Sylvie fled the room.  
  
Sylia turned to Sean. "I really don't know if my nerves can handle this," she stated.  
  
In response, Sean shook his head and sighed. "You and me both. Though I may include you in my list of stresses now. Why make _me_ your lieutenant?," he asked. "Priss and Linna both have experience over me, and Linna's a better fighter than I am."  
  
Sylia sighed. "I realize that, Sean, which was why I wanted to discuss it with them before I announced it to you. I felt it would be easier to get you to accept the position if I had their support, and if either objected I could prepare counter-arguments before the meeting. The reason I wanted you in charge of the combat element is simple. Nene can only do so much to counter jamming and both Priss' and Linna's fighting styles can carry them out of comm range. I should, however, always be able to contact you, and vice versa, making it easier to rein in Priss - or Linna, for that matter - before their feelings lead them off into traps or danger. You have also been showing promise in tactics and strategy in the games we've played, and you keep a cool head in battle most times. Combine all those, and you became my first choice."  
  
Sean shook his head again. "First Nene, now this. I think Sylvie had the right idea - I'm going back to bed." He turned and walked out the door, closing it behind him. Alone in the room, Sylia asked the walls,  
  
"Nene? What about Nene?"  
  
*** ***  
  
It was several days later, and the weather had cooled down somewhat, when Sean joined with Iczel and flew down to Raven's Garage. Sylia was down there again, and had been for most of the last seven days, ever since the CAD/CAM system on her computer at Silky Doll had ironed the last bugs out of Sylvie's suit design. Emerging from the sewer tunnels into the Faultline Canyon, he turned toward Raven's and dove into a scrap pile to separate out of view of any watching satellites. From under the 'scrap pile', which was actually camouflage for the launch ramp of the Knightwing, Sean walked down into the secret facility beneath Raven's Garage. Here was where Sylia kept the fabrication machines that made the Knight Sabers' hi-tech equipment. In addition, the training simulator was here, and so was the Knightwing, the Knight Sabers' VTOL. Sean headed straight for the factory area, beginning to feel angry.  
  
[I've told her before, she can't do her best work when she's running herself into the ground! I can't _believe_ her sometimes! And I've never felt so aggravated as when she cut off our 'sending' link a few minutes ago! Well, miss Stingray, the day of reckoning hath arrived!] he finished the thought as he opened the assembly room door with more force than was really necessary.  
  
Sylia didn't even look up from her computer. "I know, Dr. Raven... I know. Just... a few minutes more." Her normally clipped and precise speech was starting to slur from fatigue. Sean let his anger leak into his voice as he declared,   
  
"This is *not* Dr. Raven. You've got a lot of nerve, lady, cutting me off like that!"  
  
Sylia whirled around, her hand flying to her mouth. "SEAN!"  
  
Sean glared at his lover. "Sylia, I know you're leader of the Sabers, but every leader needs some checks and balances on their authority to keep them from abusing it - like disregarding your friends' instructions when they can plainly see you're hurting yourself! I told you earlier, it sounds like Dr. Raven has told you several times, and I'll bet Mackie called you when he took his break from the counter at Silky Doll! Save your work so far and log off! You need rest before you can continue, before you make an error that forces you to do the whole suit over again!" Sylia had been starting to look angry until Sean made the point about errors. She looked blearily back at the screen.  
  
"You _do_ have.. a point. I don't want to lose this, but... I just have a few more specifications to input before the factory machines can start work on Sylvie's hardsuit and motoroid. If I can just.."  
  
Noticing Sylia had gone into her 'for the good of the group' mode, Sean tuned her out, then got a sly idea. Still looking at Sylia, he gave every appearance of listening well, but in his mind, he was imagining a quiet orchestral theme, to the words of:  
  
[Rock-a-bye baby/  
on the tree top/  
when the wind blows,/  
your cradle will rock.  
When the bough breaks,/  
your cradle will fall,/  
and down will come baby,  
cradle and all...]  
  
Sure enough, after the first few repetitions, Sylia was blinking and yawning. Sean wasn't actually 'sending', but he wasn't trying to control leakage, either. Finally, Sylia's eyes slipped closed, and she started to slump forward into the computer. Sean dashed forward and gently caught her before she hit the keyboard. Carefully, he picked her up in his arms, and she cuddled closer in her sleep. She didn't wake up until Sean put her down on a cot in one of the spare rooms. Her eyes snapped open, and she sat up with a start.  
  
"*What?!* Where am I, what happened?" she cried.  
  
Sean smiled down at her. "You fell asleep. I caught you before you hit the computer, and Dr. Raven is in there saving your work. Maybe _now_ you'll listen when you're told to get some rest."  
  
Sylia looked bewildered. "That shouldn't have happened! It was only 23 hours, I've gone 36 before without passing out -" She broke off suddenly as she glared at Sean. "Sean! Did you switch my music and aroma settings again!?" Sean had done that the last time they'd had this argument, and Sylia had been, for her, roaring mad about it the next day. Sean grinned through a growing nervousness.  
  
[Uh oh,] he thought, now being very careful _not_ to leak any thought. [I'm innocent on that charge, but if she realizes what I _did_ do, there'll be hell to pay!] He widened his smile. "Sorry, Sylia, but I'm innocent this time. You can go back and check if you want, they're just as you left them."  
  
More awake now than she had been, she glared at her friend and lover. "I will. _And_," she stated, "the computer will have a log of when the last changes were, so even if you restored them, I _will_ *know.*" She stalked out. Sean endured a long and nervous five minutes before she returned, looking crestfallen.   
  
"I'm sorry, Sean, you're right," she admitted. "But then I just don't know why I fell asleep so soon! I -"   
  
Sean cut her off. "Right now, Sylia, the important thing is that you _did_ fall asleep. That usually means it's time to go to bed and let nature take its course."   
  
Reluctantly, Sylia sighed and turned towards the stairs to the garage. "I'm forced to agree with you, Sean. I'll ask Dr. Raven to drive me home, then he and Mackie can come back here and we'll close Silky Doll for the night." Sean nodded to her.  
  
"I'll just confirm that everything's okay here, then get together with Iczel again and fly back to join you."  
  
*** ***  
  
It was nearly an hour later when Sean came up the hidden launch ramp to join Iczel. A lot had needed doing, or cleaning up, in the lab and factory areas, and he hadn't actually _finished_ it, just put a large dent in the workload. [Dr. Raven can fix up the rest by himself,] Sean thought wearily. With a nod to Iczel, he murmured "Charging up," and the two synchronized. Flying out of the scrap pile, he turned toward the sea and the sewer pipe that led to the Ladys 633 building.  
  
The first warning he had of something being wrong was when Iczel yelled in his mental 'ear.'  
  
{SEAN!}  
  
"Oww!" {Yeah, what is it, Iczel? You sure woke me up with that yell!}  
  
{All radio frequencies are being jammed, and the jamming source is only fifty meters down the canyon!} Sean would have woken up for that even without the yell. He pulled to a nearly instant stop in midair, looking at the spot in question. From behind a wrecked car rose a Powered Suit in gray and silver camouflage patterns, bearing a vague resemblance to a K-11 in shape. Iczel commented, {It's superficially similar to the A.D. Police K-11 frame, but it has more armor, better ECM gear, as the jamming shows, a set of forearm shields, and the hand-held armament is more extensive. I'd say we've just met a member of another group of armored mercenaries, Sean.}  
  
{No kidding? I didn't think any others operated in the MegaTokyo area.}  
  
{Most mercenaries aren't devoted to protecting an area, Sean. They'll go where the money is.}  
  
{Point taken.} 'Sending' to Sylia now, he cried, {SYLIA! I hate to wake you or whatever, but I've just run into a heavily modified K-11 suit in the Canyons. I don't know what it's doing here,} he broke off momentarily as three more similar suits emerged from sewer pipes or debris piles, {Oops, what _these four_ are doing here, but I'll bet it's got to do with me!}  
  
Sylia's answer was immediate. {I'm calling the Sabers, Sean. We'll be there in ten minutes!}  
  
{Okay,} Sean sent back. Assured that the cavalry was on the way, he called down to the silver suit that had emerged first. "Hello. You're new around here, aren't you? Anything I can help you with?"  
  
The reply came from the second of the four suits. This one's camo pattern was in red shades. "You can surrender yourself to us and save us some work. There's a large amount of money offered for you and your fancy suit - you alive is a bonus." Sean considered a reply as he kept a wary eye on the red suit - it held a *huge* cannon in one claw, and a vulcan gun in the other. It also seemed to have a backpack mount of some kind.   
  
"I wouldn't mind knowing who I'm dealing with first," he asked warily. The last suit to emerge responded this time, the voice rich and female. Sean noticed that this gray suit had larger hovervanes than the others.  
  
"We're called the Warhawks. I'm Skyhawk, the gentleman you first saw is Silverhawk, the red armor with the bad attitude is Firehawk, and the dark, quiet fellow on my left is Nighthawk. You already know what we want, and you've probably realized that we're jamming your radio."  
  
Sean thought fast - he needed to stall. "How'd you know where to find me?"  
  
Skyhawk answered. "We were given access to an impressive number of records, Iczelion. You always seemed to disappear from observation in this area of the Canyons. When you were detected flying away from this area, we dashed in and got set up, then waited for you to come back. Now are you ready to come with us?"  
  
Sean struck a thoughtful pose. "Hmm. Well, as my boss would say, there are positive and negative aspects..."  
  
"GET HIM!" roared the red suit, the pilot apparently out of patience. It swiveled and fired the vulcan at Sean.  
  
"Geez! How rude can you get!?" Sean cried while swooping out of the line of fire. He drew a bead on the left leg of the red suit, fired an energy beam...  
  
...and gawked in amazement as the left-arm shield swung unerringly into line with the shot and blocked it with no sign of damage. [Aw, dammit, BU-12-B armor plate *again!*] His stare was cut short as the Silverhawk and Nighthawk suits opened up on him with pulse lasers, and he wove a complex evasion in the air. The Skyhawk suit jetted up to meet him - [guess I shouldn't be surprised that it can fly, given the name,] Sean thought - he pulled his beam swords and swung at the elbow joints of the arms, only to be met by two simultaneous blocks by Skyhawk's shields. [What the -] {Iczel, how're they doing that!?}  
  
Iczel took a moment to reply. {I'm working on that, Sean, but those shields can't possibly repel our gravitic field strikes. Use them!} Sean was taken aback for a moment, then thought was cut off as Skyhawk kicked him in the gut with one armored leg. "HOOF!"  
  
Sean spiraled down to a rolling landing and came up favoring his left side. [Dammit!] The familiar stab of pain told him at least one of his left ribs was broken - again. [This just keeps happening!] Iczel 'sent' to Sean again.  
  
{Sean? Use the-} Sean cut her off, dodging a second volley of lasers and the attempted physical strike from Skyhawk.  
  
{NO! Iczel, those aren't nearly as precise as the beams or swords!} He fired a volley of beam shots at Firehawk, and again the shields picked off each shot with uncanny precision. {If I hit one of these suit like that, I'll for sure injure, maybe kill the pilot! I *won't* risk it!}  
  
Iczel returned verbal fire as Firehawk did it physically, uncorking a massive particle beam from its left-arm cannon. Sean dodged easily, while Iczel argued, {Sean, the purpose of an Iczelion is to protect, but that doesn't extend to those who try to kill you! You don't have to -} Again, Sean cut her off.  
  
{*I* *WILL* *NOT* *KILL!*} Sean's slight distraction came at a bad time, however. Firehawk, annoyed at how easily Iczelion had dodged his fire, opened his backpack unit to reveal some ten micro-missiles. He fired them to spiral in, and Sean raised his forcefield in defense. Iczel cried out,  
  
{Sean, *no!* Those are concussion miss-}  
  
The first missile struck the field and detonated, but the high-concussion warhead put out enough of a shockwave that it blew Sean back against the Canyon wall. As a result, when the other nine missiles twisted in, Sean had nowhere to go. The world went dark.  
  
The excruciating agony he felt upon hitting the Canyon floor woke Sean in a hurry. Groggily, he took stock of his injuries. [Aargh.. I think all my left ribs went out... *Aah!* My *foot!* It feels like it's been pulverized! Nngh.. Oh, perfect. My right wrist seems to be broken. Is that all?] He blinked as red flowed into his field of vision, blurring it. [Oh.. cut forehead. Could be worse.] He braced his battered, but whole, right foot, reached up blindly with his left hand - [Oww! Broken finger there! Doesn't matter, Sean, *reach!*] -caught an outcropping, and pulled himself up to stand, albeit on one foot, before his tormentors. Beyond the haze of blood and pain fogging his vision, he could hear the Warhawks talking about him.  
  
Skyhawk: "Look at that! I've never seen that kind of courage before!"  
  
Firehawk: "Big deal. Silver, you got the scanners, he showing that field thingy any more?"  
  
Third voice, probably Silverhawk: "No. I think you crashed his systems there. Of course, I don't know much about his armor, but the limbs took the worst damage. Torso weapons or systems might still be functional."  
  
Firehawk: "My particle cannon'll take care of that."  
  
Fourth, quiet voice, must be Nighthawk: "We're supposed to bring in the armor relatively intact, not with a smoking hole where the body used to be."  
  
Skyhawk: "We aren't going to kill him. We don't need the bonus. We'll keep him with us."  
  
Firehawk: "Aw, _Eve!_ You gotta be -"  
  
Skyhawk, loudly: "*No buts!* I want him with us. He already works with mercenaries, he's damned good, and has access to technology I find fascinating. I want him."  
  
Loud footsteps approached, and the shape of Skyhawk became blurrily visible as she stopped in front of Sean, squatting down face-to-face with him. Sean realized his faceplate was down again - [Lucky I have the facemask now,] he thought - and Skyhawk opened her helmet, showing him her face. Sean struggled to form words.  
  
"Cl.. close your helmet.. idioth.." he slurred. "My swordth.. could st-still.. be workhing." She smiled at him.  
  
"I'm not going to fight you anymore, Iczelion." Sean noticed her short blond hair set off her green eyes rather well. Her pert face seemed incongruous with her apparent role of mercenary leader. She looked him in the eye and continued, "My name's Yvette. You probably heard Firehawk call me 'Eve', that's my nickname. You have a lot of courage, Iczelion. Come with us. We'll just turn your armor in and say you were killed. Then you can join the Warhawks. No one has to know."  
  
Unbelievably, Sean was actually tempted. [I think... I may have a concussion,] he thought foggily. [And her eyes, I've seen eyes like those before. Where?] He thought it over for a moment, then shook his head. [Argh! Owch! At a time like this I'm trying to remember eye color?!? Now I _know_ I'm concussed.]  
  
Sean's worry about his medical state was cut short by a very welcome voice from overhead.  
  
"Knight Sabers, Action!!" Yvette's helmet snapped back into place, and she waved to her companions. She reached for Sean, but he dropped a beam sword into his left hand and swiped at her arm. Her shield whipped into position to parry it, and she pulled away and roared into the night. Sean saw all four Knight Sabers in a semicircle around him, and passed out.  
  
*** ***  
  
As a result, he missed the ensuing argument entirely.  
  
"Let's get *AFTER* them, Sylia!" screamed a raging Priss. "I'm not going to let them get away with *this!*"  
  
Linna, normally calm, was equally incensed at the condition of her friend and pupil. "Priss is right! Let's go show _them_ something about pain! Then they won't be so ready to give it to _my_ *FRIENDS!*"  
  
Sylia, normally so collected, spoke in a voice choked with emotion. "No. We're going to get Sean to medical care ASAP - I have an understanding with Richard Zahn of the Zahn Clinic. We'll fly him to the Lady's 633 and drive him in from there."  
  
Priss protested, "You only need you and Nene for that! Linna and I can go -"  
  
"NO!" Sylia exploded. "They are a professional mercenary team, we'll all need to be together to handle them safely! I _will not_ risk losing anyone else!" Sylia was surprised when Linna spoke in a voice gone flat and ice-cold.  
  
"Sylia, they were using weapons that drew power from batteries or used normal ammunition. They threw quite a bit at Sean, and according to the command truck's sensors, the red suit spent their only missiles before we arrived. Priss and I can take our Motoroids, we'd make short work of them. You and Nene can get Sean to the clinic." Sylia, now desperate, tried frantically to think of a way to restrain Priss and Linna from immediate revenge. Her thoughts were cut short by a quiet remark from Nene.  
  
"Linna, Priss," the electronics expert said, so softly that the others had to strain to hear her. "What if they lost you or used Boomers to stall you, then came after Sean again? We couldn't stop them on our own." Priss twitched, and Linna seemed to deflate. Finally, the dancer murmured,  
  
"All right... but I don't have to like it." Sylia wanted to sag with relief, but controlled herself.  
  
[That can wait until I'm sure Sean is going to be all right. Then I need to get onto the Net and call Fargo's network for data on those mercenaries. I won't leave Sean at risk here, but whoever you are,] she thought to the departed mercenary team, [there _will_ be a reckoning.] 


	3. Episode 3: Dark to Light

Episode 3: Dark to Light  
  
It was dark. Everything seemed enclosed and heavy, and Sean foggily decided he was in a tunnel. He was on his feet, sweating, but healthy. [I vaguely remember being injured... or was that a nightmare?] {Iczel?} he called, noticing that he was still Iczelion. Iczel didn't reply. {*Iczel?*} Still nothing. The armor seemed heavy on Sean's body, lifeless. {**ICZEL?!??**} He didn't realize that he'd screamed aloud until a heavy voice reverberated down the tunnel.  
  
"The alien pet ain't gonna help you now." The voice brought back the awful memories of the recent fight. [Oh shit, Firehawk!,] Sean thought. He leaped airborne -  
  
-and came down on his face as he utterly failed to fly. [What the?!?]  
  
"I said, the alien ain't gonna help ya!" Coarse laughter echoed down the tunnel, which seemed to be a natural cavern and not a sewer. The hiss of jets announced Firehawk's approach, prompting Sean into a run. He sighed in relief as he came up to an area too narrow for the bulky Warhawk K-11 variants to pass through. Turning sideways, he squeezed through and ran around a bend in the tunnel. As he paused, panting, Firehawk bellowed in fury.  
  
"YOU THINK THIS'LL STOP ME?!!" The roar was punctuated by the flare and **P-SHOOM** of Firehawk's huge particle cannon. Fear jolted Sean back into a run, and he sighed again as he came into a cavern with four more tunnels leading into it. Sean took a hard right and charged into the nearest one, rounding a corner and, against all logic, coming up against a sliding door. Not stopping to think, he wrenched it open -  
  
and jolted to a stop, skidding down to his back, at the sight of Silverhawk inside the door.   
  
[Shit.] He scrambled to his feet as Silverhawk spoke.  
  
"You're helpless! I know, I can tell! I could break you in half with no weapons at all, scared little boy!" Sean slammed the door and ran back to the cavern. The sound of Silverhawk's pulse laser reducing the door to rubble sped his steps. The air seemed warmer, uncomfortably so - or was that just him? He turned to the next tunnel, noting as he did that the farthest tunnel from him seemed very wide. As Sean pounded down the new tunnel, he came upon another narrow spot and grinned. [I'm out of here,] he thought.   
  
A glance through the gap proved Sean wrong. Nighthawk was there, as if waiting for him. The black K-11 variant spoke in a voice cold as the grave.  
  
"I thought we should've killed you and foregone the bonus - it would've been more certain. I could do it now, without blinking an eye. I don't lose my temper -" a bellow from Firehawk echoed through the caves - "like _some_ people, but as long as the job gets done, it's no skin off my nose, whatever happens." He extended a vibroblade from one arm and began cutting a way through the bottleneck as Sean, now close to a raving panic, pelted back to the cavern and ran into the fourth passage. It ran for a good hundred yards and around three bends before it came to a door - a door Sean recognized.  
  
[That's the door to Sylia's room back at the penthouse! I'll be safe there!,] he thought, somewhat irrationally. He tore the door open and leaped inside before slamming it behind him, cutting off the noise from the caverns as if by magic. Then he sagged back against the door before turning to look at the room. He froze. There in Sylia's bed, with the covers pulled up to her neck, was Yvette - Skyhawk!  
  
"My goodness, Iczelion, how forward! Decided to accept my offer after all, hmm?" Her eyes were two green flames of desire, and Sean froze, unable to move for a moment. Slowly, as if through cement, his hand moved toward the doorknob, his only thought to flee.  
  
"Oh, don't do that, please!" Yvette implored. "If you go back out there, my friends will get you. It'll be _so_ much nicer to stay in here..." Sean's hand shook as if he had palsy, but with a supreme effort of will, he closed it on the knob. As the door opened, the room disappeared, leaving bare rock - and Yvette simply _morphed_ into the Skyhawk suit with a banshee's scream. "All right! You had your chance! You could have had heaven, now GO TO HELL!"   
  
Indeed, the stones were the color of dried blood, and the heat became oppressive. Sean sprinted back to the main chamber with Skyhawk in hot pursuit, and saw to his horror that the other Warhawks were emerging from their tunnels. He turned to the last, wide corridor, but a salvo of missiles from Firehawk collapsed it, pinning his legs. All the weapons the four suits had came to bear, and Sean could only see the brilliant flash of white light...  
  
*** ***  
  
Sean woke from the nightmare in an unfamiliar bed to the sounds of Sylia talking with, from the voice, a middle-aged male. Sylia was just asking,  
  
"But you're *sure* he'll make a full recovery, Dr. Zahn?"  
  
The male voice replied, sounding vaguely annoyed. "Sylia, I put the _full_ medical resources here into ensuring that he'd recover without complications. Have I disappointed you yet?" Sean caught a brief flash of embarrassment along their link, and she replied,  
  
"No, you haven't. I think he's awake, so... thank you, Richard."  
  
Richard asked, "Sylia, I haven't heard that degree of concern in your voice since Priss got injured in that Skorpion incident. You seem a bit less reserved, too. Is it him?"  
  
"Yes. He knows about me, and we... we're lovers."  
  
"Indeed," Richard replied. "Before events sidetracked me, I was vying for that position, did you ever realize that? You never gave a sign if you did. Well, my compliments to the lucky man." Heavy footsteps receded in the hall, and Sylia entered the room with Sean.  
  
"You heard?" she asked. Sean nodded, looking down at himself in the process. His head seemed to be bandaged, his right forearm and left middle finger were in casts - [My gosh, that looks obscene,] Sean thought - and so was his left shin. His ribs were heavily taped, but painless.  
  
Sylia explained, "We brought you here after you passed out. Richard Zahn is... unusual, like most of my friends, but his clinic and medical skills are excellent. He and I have an understanding about medical care for friends of mine, no questions asked. He's also been my doctor for some time, and he knows about my... condition." Sean nodded again, realizing Sylia was referring to her intellectual enhancement. She went on, "He has been a good friend and might have been more if I'd allowed it to happen. One more for the file on 'what might have been.'" She smiled. "And on the subject of friends..." Sylia commented as Sylvie, Linna, Priss, Nene, and Mackie filed into the room. Seeing the downcast expressions on his friends' faces, Sean tried to lighten the mood.  
  
"Hi guys! Boy, isn't it _awful_ what can happen to you from falling down the steps?" Priss and Linna cocked an eye at him while Mackie, Sylvie, and Nene grinned. Faced with only partial success, Sean tried again. "Aw, come on! It's not as bad as what _you_ threatened to do to me once, Linna!" Every eye in the room focused on the dancer as Linna colored slightly, then explained.  
  
"We'd been training for about a week when he put his hand squarely in my crotch to try and lift me above his head." Now the stares were directed at Sean.  
  
"Hey," he defended himself, "I'd done all my training before that with either males, Mannequins, or family! I didn't realize my crime until I found myself on my butt with a sore _everything!_" The group looked at each other and grinned. Deciding to get some information, Sean asked, "So..." he looked to see the door firmly shut. "How badly did you trash those 'Warhawk' goons?"  
  
It was the wrong thing to say. Sylvie looked concerned while Nene and Sylia studied the floor and Linna and Priss glared at them. Priss answered first, still glaring at Sylia.  
  
"Linna and I _wanted_ to go after them, but _Sylia_ insisted on letting them go to get you to the clinic! We were _really_ mad when it turned out your injuries weren't life-threatening! I -" Priss broke off as Linna grabbed her arm and she looked up to see Sean gone totally pale.  
  
"Th.. They're still _out_ there?" The query was a bare whisper.  
  
*** ***  
  
Nearly a week had gone by since Sean's arrival in the clinic, and after the casts came off, Dr. Zahn finally gave permission for Sean to undergo non-strenuous exercise. Sean, keeping in mind his promise to Nene, had called her and arranged for her to visit during his exercise hours. As a result, the two of them were sweating as they finished an hour of finding and holding various T'ai Chi positions.  
  
"Normally," Sean commented as the two sat down, "I'd just be holding the position long enough for you to reach it yourself, then observing, but I need to get my body back into shape as much as you need to practice the positions and forms. As I recover I may be doing this less and less." Nene pouted - she'd have preferred to do more, but she was _exhausted._  
  
"I never knew it could be so much work just holding one position!" she commented as she flopped into her seat.   
  
"Well, it was a lot of different positions, but yes, that ability to just stand still and _not_ move is as crucial to martial arts as the ability to punch or kick exactly where you intend to - and that's another thing we were working on today," Sean replied. "We can keep training daily to build up our stamina. Like I said, I need to recover my old levels of ability, and you need to improve your current ones." A nurse came to the door, and Sean finished, "Uh-oh. Looks like my moment of freedom is over. See you tomorrow, Nene!" Nene dragged herself to her feet and waved a tired good-bye to Sean as the young man was led back to his bed.  
  
*** ***  
  
Priss pulled her towel off the security camera after making sure she was fully clothed - [There's a fine art to frustrating Mackie,] she thought with a grin. She and the other original Sabers had just gotten back from putting down a rogue BU-55-C Boomer in the Canyons, and she was in a pretty good mood. [It would've been even better,] she mused, [if Sean and Sylvie could've come along, but I can't argue with Sylia's reasons _this_ time. It's only been three weeks since Sean was injured, so he could still be feeling it even if they are mostly healed, and Sylvie hasn't had _any_ experience operating with the team yet.] She grinned. [From the expression on Sylia's face I'll bet Sean was arguing for inclusion in the operation via 'sending' even as we left. She deserves at least that much for letting those _damned_ mercs get away scot-free!] The grin vanished. [Oh well, I may as well go say 'Hi' to Sean.]   
  
Priss knocked on Sean's door. "Sean? It's Priss! Wanna hear how we trashed the Boomer?"  
  
"Go away," Sean muttered from inside the room.  
  
"What? That's pretty damn rude! After pestering Sylia about going I thought you'd at least want to hear how it went!"  
  
"I don't care anymore, now go away!" Sean cried. Annoyed, Priss tried the knob. The door was unlocked, and she stepped inside. There was no immediate sign of Sean until Priss looked over to the corner to see Sean huddled there in a ball. She dashed over to him with a yell.  
  
"SEAN! Hey, are you okay!?" Her only answer was mutters and what sounded like a sob. Looking him over, Priss couldn't see any sign of physical injury, so she took him by the shoulders and shook him hard. "HEY!! Snap out of it! What the hell's the matter with you, anyway?!" She started when Sean looked up at her - his eyes were positively _haunted._  
  
"I - I don't know if I'll be coming back to the Knight Sabers anymore..." He started sobbing again.  
  
"_What?_ Of course you'll be back! You haven't gotten _that_ rusty in three weeks -" she stopped as Sean began talking very quietly.  
  
"When Sylia made the decision that I wouldn't be coming, I didn't like it. I argued with her via 'sending' for a good five minutes after you left. Finally, she got fed up and cut me off, and I went to the window to calm down. I have a pretty good view of the street from up here, and I figured out later that what I saw was an A.D.P. K-11 suit on its way to the Boomer incident. That wasn't what I thought at the time, though. I saw the silhouette and I freaked! I thought it was the Warhawks come to get me - I was so panicked I didn't even call for Iczel, I just cowered in the corner! Then, when I snapped out of that, it hit me that I had been that scared just at the _sight_ of a K-11! How'm I supposed to be a useful Knight Saber like that?!?" he lamented, burying his head in his hands. Priss stared down at the young man who she'd almost come to think of as a younger brother because he'd seemed to take the fighting in stride so well. Suddenly, an answer dawned on her.  
  
"Sean, have you ever been beaten before?" she asked. He looked at her like she was crazy.  
  
"Are you kidding? Of course I've lost before, I lose to Linna all the time when we spar! What does that have to do with any-" Priss cut him off.  
  
"Sean, I meant 'beaten' as in 'pinned down so you can't fight back and had the shit kicked out of you' beaten, like a beat-*ing.*" Sean just stared, resembling a deer caught in the glare of headlights. The singer sighed. "I guess not. You're lucky: most people who learn to fight have it happen to them at least once while they're learning. By what you said about the Warhawks, they batted you around without much trouble, right? And they hurt you pretty badly in the bargain. So now you're scared of them: it's only natural. I went through it too, once." Priss fell silent for a moment as her own memories resurfaced. "I joined the Highwaymen - a bike gang - when I was around 17. One day I was coming out of a karaoke joint when four or five Outriders - that gang's still around today - jumped me. Someone called the Normal Police and they broke it up before I was seriously hurt, but I couldn't fight for weeks, 'cause I kept *feeling* the hands holding me down, *seeing* the fists come down again and again..." She started at the feel of a hand laid across her wrist, then pulled out of her memories to see Sean's hand there.  
  
"How..." Sean cleared his throat and tried again. "How did you get over it?" Priss looked Sean in the eye.  
  
"Basically? It took time. At the end, I spent a whole day arguing with myself in my trailer, convincing myself I didn't need to be so scared. Finally, I figured out what I could *do* about something like that, and that's when I stole myself a gun." The singer looked Sean over - at least he seemed to be thoughtful now instead of miserable. "I'll let you think about it - this is somethin' you have to do yourself." She let herself out, worried - Sean had a hard road ahead of him. She brightened as she remembered that she and the Replicants had a concert scheduled in a few days - maybe there was something she could do!  
  
*** ***  
  
Sean, much to Iczel's delight, had called her to him as soon as Priss's advice sank in. [Half the terror of being beaten so badly is that I don't know _how_ they did that. If Iczel and I can figure that out, I'm halfway home.] Aloud, he asked his partner, "So. Any theories about those shields, Iczel? I mean, I know they're made of the BU-12-B's ceramel composites, but how did they parry so perfectly?"  
  
Iczel's reply was almost immediate. "Sean, I've been studying that battle ever since you recovered. Sylia even let me download my memories of it into her computer so we could examine it together. We detected a slight fluctuation in their scan patterns every time we were about to fire or slash at them. Sylia also realized that the arms of the suits - especially Firehawk - were supporting far too much weight to have human arms inside. Our best guess is that the arms of a Warhawk model K-suit are fully mechanical, not sleeves around human arms, and they were slaved to the suit scanners and some sort of dedicated point-defense computer."  
  
Sean digested this for a moment. "So basically, the scanners detect us about to fire, extrapolate the impact point, and move one arm and its forearm shield to intercept the attack before it strikes normal armor. Bad news is, that system can probably intercept anything I can shoot, good news is, I don't have to worry about putting a human in the hospital by hitting the arms of the suit with gravitic strikes - and there's no way those dinky shields can take that kind of abuse. Now how did I get hurt so badly? The forcefields should've protected us, right?"  
  
Iczel paused for a moment before answering. "Sean, that requires a reasonably detailed explanation of the concepts and functions of your twin-field system."   
  
Sean groaned. "I didn't get this the last time you tried to explain it, Iczel! Can you at least *try* to keep it simple?" Iczel sighed, audibly and mentally, before nodding to her partner. "Okay then, explain away."  
  
Taking a moment to think, Iczel framed her reply. "All right. The outer field, the sphere that you have to concentrate on to use, is our strongest defense. It becomes stronger the tighter your focus on it becomes, and it can readily intercept solid projectiles or energy beams. It does allow air exchange, however, unless you specifically tighten the field to block it, so gases and shockwaves propagated through the air will only be slowed down a little if you're not defending against them." Sean's face lit up.  
  
"Oh, _now_ I get it! That's why those concussion missiles got damage through the field!"  
  
"Exactly. Now the inner field is in constant operation, but it needs to be flexible to allow you your full range of motion *and* permit you to touch and grab objects without them slipping along the field and away. So while the skinfield is excellent against energy beams, it will only stop solid impacts if they are above the velocities that a normal human can use." Sean frowned.  
  
"But the HyperBoomers and Skyhawk both hit a *lot* harder than a human - how come _they_ got through?" he asked. Iczel sighed.  
  
"Sean, you weren't listening. The field doesn't acknowledge overall _force_ or _momentum,_ just _speed._ The extra force behind the physical strikes that have often broken your ribs comes from mass, not speed, so the field doesn't protect us!"  
  
Sean looked crestfallen. "Oops. Problem."  
  
*** ***  
  
It was the next day when Sylia called all of the Sabers to Survival Shot to engage in another 'training' exercise. Sylia, Sylvie, and Nene had beaten Priss, Linna, and Sean when Sean had missed a clean shot at Sylia and she'd shot him down with ease. On the way out of the restaurant, Priss was still complaining to Sean.  
  
"I just don't know why you can't learn to shoot! You and Sylia were the only two left, if you'd gotten her, we'd have won again! Don't you practice?"  
  
Sean sighed. "Priss, I _used to_ practice my aim regularly, but my convalescence kind of put a stop to that as I retrained myself to get back to my old levels. I'm just thankful for 2030's medicine: if I'd been mangled that badly thirty years ago, I'd still be bedridden." He shivered at the thought. "Ugh! Can't they ever serve *good* food in a hospital, or is there some union rule against it?"  
  
Linna laughed. "Well, if that's the worst you went through from those injuries, I'll stop worrying." Priss and Sean both started, and Sylia sighed. "What? What's wrong?" Linna asked. Sylia looked over at Sean and Priss, but neither one seemed inclined to speak.  
  
Sylia sighed again. "I believe Sean has suffered psychological trauma from his ordeal. He admitted to Priss when she pressed him and to me later that day that he was terrorstruck at the sight of an A.D.P. K-11 suit enroute to our engagement. I believe he will recover," she smiled at Sean as she said this, and he felt as though the sun had risen inside him, "but _when_ is an open question. The only cures are determination and time."  
  
Sean was suddenly surrounded by solicitous friends, as everyone but Sylia and Priss clustered around him with questions, sympathy, and encouragement. He closed his eyes and fought the impulse to burst into tears. [To have such good friends is the stuff of dreams, but the thought of not helping them is a nightmare! I _have_ to get through this... if I can just figure out how...]  
  
*** ***  
  
Such thoughts were much farther from Sean's mind a week later. In his rush to get back up to speed, Sean had stepped up the intensity of his training sessions with Nene, his only concession to her feelings being that he made sure *never* to tease or taunt her about her flaws, just to point them out politely. Politeness only goes so far when one is on one's back with the wind knocked out of you, meaning Nene started putting a lot more effort into _her_ training to try and get a little of her own back on her teacher. The result was that Sean was actually putting some effort into their current freestyle sparring session.  
  
[I can hardly believe how much she's improved!] Sean thought, amazed, as Nene hit the mat after Sean swept her feet out from under her and bounced right back to her feet in a creditable nip-up. He flicked a jab at her face as she straightened, and she ducked her head to one side, dodging the blow. She crouched lower and kicked at Sean's ankle from her crouch, and he jumped back to avoid it. He pressed forward quickly to try and force Nene into the ropes, where his advantages of weight and reach would be most effective. His surprise was complete when Nene didn't retreat. Instead, she turned side-on to him, extended one leg out across his path, hooked an elbow under his shoulder, and rolled him over her hip to crash on his back. [A - a hiptoss!] was his first (stunned) thought after landing. His second concerned vengeance, but that was put on hold as he opened his eyes to see Nene jumping around yelling "I DID IT! I DID IT!" over and over. He slapped the mat three times in a signal to end the match, then rolled to his feet.  
  
"Well done, Nene! That was a textbook hiptoss, or hip-roll as some people call it! I didn't think you were paying attention during the wrestling lessons," he finished.  
  
"Well, I wasn't at first, but I remembered what you said about not relying too much on any one kind of fighting, so I practiced the motions behind your back, kinda. I asked to use the ring at the Fitness Bee and one of the practice dummies."  
  
"You sure did that well enough! (cough) So what other wrestling moves have you studied?"  
  
Nene gave Sean an innocent look. "What makes you think I studied other moves?"  
  
Sean just smiled. After a moment, Nene relented. "Oh, okay. I studied a few others: the one where you grab the attacker's arm, pull it straight, and drive him to the ground.."  
  
"The armbar takedown," Sean interjected.  
  
"Yeah, and the one where you grab the enemy's head under your arm and fall backward to spike his head down to the floor..."  
  
"The D.D.T."  
  
"Yeah. Why's it called that, anyway?"  
  
"I think it's a reference to some poison from the 1970's, but I'm not sure. Go on."  
  
"The last one I studied was the one where you sort of run at the other guy and smash your arm across his throat. Priss said a Boomer used that on her once."  
  
"Oh, the clothesline! Yeah, but be careful about using that on opponents bigger than you, including Boomers. You've gotta be able to knock them off their feet to be effective with that."  
  
"O.K., Kai-sensei!"  
  
"Gah. Now I know what Linna meant."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"She always complained that it made her feel old if I used 'sensei' as an honorific."  
  
"Oh. Well, Priss invited us all to her concert with the Replicants tonight. Are you gonna come, or are you too sore?" Nene asked with a sly grin.  
  
"Impudent student! I'll be there, never fear, even if Largo were between me and Hot Legs, I'd be there after _that_ gibe!"  
  
Nene, laughing, ran towards the ladies' changeroom. "I'll see you there! Later!"  
  
"Later, Nene!"  
  
*** ***  
  
Later that evening, Sean was at the Priss and the Replicants concert at Hot Legs with Sylvie, Linna, Nene, and Mackie. Priss had been her usual exuberant self, performing old favorites like 'Konya Hurricane' and 'Mad Machine'. As the concert was winding down, Priss paused after 'Burning Highway' and signaled that she had an announcement for the crowd. It took a few moments for everyone to quiet down, then Priss spoke.  
  
"Okay, everyone, My voice is starting to go, but I'm gonna do one last song." She stared right down at Sean in the front row. "I wanna dedicate this song to a good friend of mine who I really hope takes this to heart. He knows who he is." Cheers and murmurs greeted the announcement, and Sean jumped as the Replicants played the opening chords of 'Victory'. Sean's thoughts mingled with the lyrics in his mind.  
  
[What she told me before, how she was beaten - the song's about that! About the aftermath, I mean!]  
  
"-Don't hide your eyes from the bitter facts spreading before you,/  
Turn them into courage now and 'Blow Up - - Blow Up'!"  
  
[She took the fear she suffered and turned it into anger, courage, who knows: she made it work _for_ her and not against her!]  
  
"-so long as you keep believing in the power of love/  
you will achieve your 'Victory', yours alone."  
  
[She's right. I care about the Knight Sabers like family: I *will* *not* let this fear drive me away from them. I will have a 'victory' over it, over myself.]  
  
"'-Never say Give Up, never again',  
overcome your sadness.  
'Never say Give Up, never again',  
you will fly once more.  
'Never say Give Up, Never again',  
pierce through the storm,  
'Never say Give Up, never again',  
start running to tomorrow."  
  
As Priss fell silent and the band took up the final chorus, she stared down at Sean again. Sean looked back up and nodded. [I understand, Priss. I won't let fear keep me down.]  
  
*** ***  
  
Across town, in a small bar called C'est La Vie, the only Knight Saber not to attend the concert was walking in to meet Fargo, her fixer and information broker. She sat down beside him at the bar, and as usual, the bartender noticed a blemish at the far end of the bar and went to polish it.  
  
"Sylia. Looking lovely as ever, I see," Fargo commented. Sylia, however, was in no mood to flirt.  
  
"I don't have time for this at the moment, Fargo. I've already deposited a sizable sum in your Geneva account: do you have the information I requested?"  
  
Fargo frowned. "I'll say this for your requests, Sylia: they're seldom dull. I've had a fair amount of trouble getting information on the location of your targets, these 'Warhawks'; more than I should have for a set of relative newcomers to the city. They're either incredibly good at intelligence and social integration or they've been here longer than I can confirm."  
  
Sylia frowned. "In that case, how reliable is your information?"  
  
"I would say ninety-nine percent. The informant in question is a personal friend, and has been since my days as a private investigator. I saved his daughter's life from a drug overdose once, so no normal incentive would get him to betray me."  
  
"Very well. Their location?"  
  
"An abandoned warehouse in the reclamation zones, Canyonside. Private, and ready access to their quarry's most-frequented location." Fargo handed Sylia a disk. "The location and surrounding area are here." With that, he got up and walked out.  
  
Sylia held the disk in her hand for a long time. [I promised there would be a reckoning for what you did to Sean, and now it's coming. Sean, unfortunately, is still having problems, and Sylvie is too inexperienced for this: tomorrow I'll wait for Sean to go out for his evening run and summon the original Knight Sabers to deal with these attackers. Sean,] she thought to herself, [you will be avenged, and the threat to the Knight Sabers dealt with.]  
  
Across town, back at Hot Legs, Sean sneezed.  
  
*** ***  
  
The next evening, the hardsuited Knight Sabers - the original four - moved carefully closer to an abandoned building practically on the lip of the Canyons. Sylia waved in a hand signal to move in. The four closed on a door with a far-too-complex electronic lock, but Nene extended her computer probe and had the lock code broken in moments. As Linna and Priss pulled on the doors, they slid quietly open - one more indication that this warehouse was in better repair than it appeared. The four armored women slipped inside and trained their sensors on their surroundings. Inside the darkened building was a large truck similar to the Sabers' own mobile command center, and beside it were four silhouettes of modified K-11 Powered Suits. A hole in the floor large enough to accommodate two of the suits at once led into a storm drain and revealed the Warhawks' method of access to the Canyon. Over in one wall was a door with heat, visible on infrared scan, streaming out from it - a probable location for the pilots of the suits. Sylia stepped towards it - the others followed -   
  
-and in a flash of static and a howl of haywire sensors, the situation dissolved into chaos. Sylia felt herself falling as her hardsuit lost all power, and realized what had happened. [A trap,] she thought. [They have some kind of E.M. pulse generator, and they used it to disable our hardsuits. If only I'd been able to install the EMP armor before this mission!]  
  
She jumped as she felt her suit's arms being pulled behind her back, and something snap into place around them, pinning them there. Her sensors finally sorted out their programming and came back on line, only to show her the silver suit putting a clamp around her suit's legs, as the other Warhawks treated the other Sabers similarly. Nene was shouting and struggling, Priss was cursing vehemently, and Linna was trying to work an arm free of the hydraulic clamp pinning her hardsuit. [They were waiting for us,] Sylia realized. [Somehow, they either turned Fargo's agent or fed him false information, and set a trap!] She looked up as Skyhawk spoke.   
  
"Greetings, Knight Sabers! I'm sorry that Iczelion isn't here, but I don't think he'll be too long in coming now that we've got you. You managed to break through our radio jamming when we ambushed him, so perhaps you have a sort of 'dead man's switch' signal that sounds an alarm if it's lost. Regardless, you can't fight or escape, so if he doesn't come, we'll just take you four to get the secondary contract." A dread colder than arctic ice chilled Sylia's soul.  
  
*** ***  
  
Sean had just come in from his run and nodded to Sylvie, who was closing up the Silky Doll, when an icicle of fear jabbed him from within. It was so similar to his panic at the sight of the K-suit that it took him a moment to recognize it as a 'sent' leakage. {Sylia! What's going on!?}  
  
Her reply was a flashing replay of recent events - a trick they'd been working on for quite some time. Where she'd been during the concert. Her telling the other Sabers, except Sylvie, about the night's mission. The approach to the warehouse. The trap. Skyhawk's statement. Finally, she shifted back to words.  
  
{Sean, I want you to stay away. Sylvie has the ability to take in all the information I have from my father - she and Mackie can help you in building the new Knight Sabers. You have the fear to cope with and Sylvie is still inexperienced, so you should cut your losses. I -} Sean cut her off.  
  
{DAMN IT, Sylia! Do you think I'm gonna abandon you!?! I said I was with the Knight Sabers all the way, and I meant it! I'm with you all the way, too - for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until *death* *do* *us* *part!*}  
  
Sylia, stunned silent, didn't reply for almost thirty seconds. {Sean, did you just propose what I think you did?} she sent quietly.  
  
{You're damn right I did, so you'd bloody well better not die before I get there!}  
  
Silence was his only reply. He turned, calling mentally for Iczel, but stopped at the sight of Sylvie locking the front doors. [Hmm...]  
  
*** ***  
  
The silence in the warehouse was broken by Silverhawk. "He's coming. Flying down the canyon, just below the lip. Five hundred meters. Four-fifty. Four hundred. Three-fifty. Three hundred. Two-fifty. Two hundred - he's slowing down. One-seventy-five. One-fifty. One hundred. Still slowing down - must be searching for his friends. Seventy-five - he's stopped. He's hovering just about at the edge of the Canyon, or just under. He's climbing. Places, everyone!" The Warhawks all moved to positions out of sight of the open door. Moments later, Iczelion's silhouette appeared in the doorway - only to dive out of it and take refuge in a clump of barrels. The Sabers almost laughed at the dismayed cries of the Warhawks, as Sean had by no coincidence chosen one spot that none of his foes could easily target. He called up,  
  
"I scanned for you before I came in, Skyhawk - I know where you're hiding." [Indeed I do,] he thought, [because when I told Sylia my plan she started relaying your actions back to me. I 'saw' you running and hiding.]  
  
In reply, Skyhawk yelled, "Nighthawk! NOW!!"  
  
There was a (Snap-CRACK!) of electricity, and the Sabers' sensors once again went berserk. Four hearts sank in their chests as their electronic vision cleared to show a masked Sean experimentally leaping up and down - with his faceplate _off._  
  
He jumped up and down once more, then stated flatly, "E.M.P. weapon. *Verrry* cute."  
  
Inside, Sean was a morass of fear. [Keep calm, you're the one with the surprises!] he thought. It didn't help much. It was all he could do to stay there and not flee as fast as possible.  
  
Skyhawk called down, "Iczelion! You're disabled, you can't escape! I have a deal for you: give yourself up and I'll let your friends go free!"  
  
Sean glared up at her. The silent stare was all the answer he gave.  
  
She stepped back under the glare, then sighed. "Very well. Firehawk, get him - but *be* *careful!* I still want him intact for us!"  
  
As the red-patterned suit approached, Iczel called to Sean. {Sean, the jamming is down! They must have stopped now that they think there's no one to call for help!}  
  
Sean grinned. {Good. Send our backup the position of Nighthawk and open a channel.} As Iczel did so, Sean ran to an open space near the doorway to get some maneuvering room. Firehawk skimmed in, and Sean dove to one side, rolling back to his feet as Firehawk had to brake to avoid the wall. Sean fought another surge of fear - [They look a *lot* bigger from the ground!] and forced a laugh through his throat. "Is that the best you can do? I'm not even flying, Firebug!"  
  
"That's FIREHAWK!" the mercenary roared, charging in again. The other Warhawks moved closer, and Nighthawk emerged from behind the truck to guard the hole down into the sewers. Sean sighed in relief. [Whew!] he thought, tumbling back to evade a third rush from Firehawk.   
  
As Firehawk wheeled around, but approached more slowly to grab his target, Sean felt as if a tight band constricting around his chest suddenly snapped. [Payback time!]   
  
"Saber-five, NOW!" he cried.  
  
As all the Warhawk suits jerked around to look at the door, two things happened. The first was that Sylvie, in her black (with gold trim) hardsuit, jumped up out of the hole in the floor. Sean thought, [Dropping her in the mouth of the closest large sewer tunnel and directing her to the hole Sylia saw really paid off!] as Sylvie fired her railguns and plasma cannon in two volleys, reducing Nighthawk's backpack sensors - and presumably, his EMP array - to rubble.  
  
The second thing happened as Firehawk let his guard down. Sean and Iczel routed power back into the systems they'd intentionally shut down after Sean's forcefield deflected the EMP, and Sean powered up his gravitic strikes.  
  
Skyhawk jerked back as two large chunks of metal flew past her. She wasn't nearly as surprised as Firehawk, though, who was staring down at the ruined mounts that once held his shields to his arms.  
  
"HOLY-" he cried, but that was as far as he got. In the grip of a desire for revenge as strong as any need in his life, Sean dropped both beam swords into his hands and slashed the arms off the suit, then embedded both blades in Firehawk's backpack mount - the missile rack - and dove away.  
  
The blades blowing detonated the missiles and smashed Firehawk violently to the floor. He moaned, but lay still.   
  
[YES!] Sean exulted, then roared toward Silverhawk, who had fired on a frantically dodging Sylvie with his pulse laser. Sean stiffened his outer forcefield and rammed the silver K-11 variant, sending it tumbling. Sylvie waved her thanks as she ran to free the Sabers, as planned. Sean turned, slowly, menacingly, toward Skyhawk and the crippled Nighthawk. Inside, he fought to throttle down his hunger for revenge - [Is this how Priss feels about Boomers and GENOM?] Sean wondered. [If so, no wonder she's so combat-happy!] A (snap-hiss) told Sean that Sylvie's plasma blade was in play, and he grinned, knowing that the Sabers would soon be free. Skyhawk started forward, but Sean held up one hand, visibly building a gravitic field around it. "I should warn you that this little trick literally hits like a one-ton weight," he commented, and she stopped.  
  
A moment later, she charged. Sean, startled, lashed out, the shields parrying - for all the good it did - and the force of the blow hurled Skyhawk back into the side of her truck.  
  
It was obviously armored, because it didn't give much, and the back of Skyhawk's suit caved in like tinfoil with a horrifying shriek.  
  
"NO!" Sean and Nighthawk cried in chorus. Sean got to the suit first and extended his field around it, blocking Nighthawk out. Sweating, he lowered his faceplate to clear his vision and pried open the faceplate, cutting the front armor off the K-11 variant when he couldn't see if she was all right from her head alone. He pulled the padding and wiring off of her and sighed. [Whhew.. no obvious injuries. Thing must be padded to a fare-thee-well; heck, Firehawk might be okay too!] He closed his eyes in relief for a moment, then jumped as he opened them.  
  
There was Yvette, propped on her elbows and staring directly into his eyes - and Sean could swear her green eyes were _glowing!_ All he could see was the eyes, all he could hear was Yvette saying intently, "*Come* *With* *Me,* *Iczelion!*"...  
  
...until Iczel screamed into his mind, {**WAKE UP, SEAN!!!**} As he jolted back to awareness, he remembered where he'd seen eyes like hers before...  
  
*** ***  
  
[Sean jumped off the Mackiecycle and ran through the darkness toward the pair on the highway, not bothering to remove his helmet or visor. He'd been looking for survivors of the SDPC shuttle crash and two women had stumbled onto the Canyon Highway in front of him. As he approached them, the tall one called, "Help us!" while staring wildly at him. For a moment, her eyes seem to glow, but the visor made Sean uncertain. That was the first time he'd met Sylvie and Anri, and it wasn't long after that when Iczel had told him she was...]  
  
*** ***  
  
"You're a 33-S!" Sean cried, jolting back to an upright position beside Yvette.  
  
"Whaa?! A Sexaroid?!" a voice cried beside Sean. Sean suddenly remembered Nighthawk having been right beside him and rolled away, looking around.  
  
All five Knight Sabers had their guns on the Warhawks, while Silverhawk, having recovered from his tumble, was pulling Firehawk out of his ruined suit. Nighthawk was under Sylia's guns and seemed stunned - at least, for someone wearing a K-suit.  
  
Nighthawk was staring at Sean. "You mean we've been working for a damned Boomer?"  
  
Yvette worked her mouth and tried to speak, but Nighthawk turned to Sylia and said, "Looks like we weren't as independent as we thought. I guess the contract on you is off - you can do what you like with the Boomer," he finished, coolly gesturing to Yvette. Sylia nodded coldly and gestured to the door, which the three male Warhawks used without listening to the desperate voice of their former leader.  
  
Sean, having fought so hard for his self-control, was visibly trembling to keep calm. Once the three were gone, he verbally exploded.   
  
"Of all the lousy, racist *hypocrites!* She's the same person they knew, what the hell's the difference? Human, Boomer, or hell, Alien, if it acts like a person it is a person, damn it, however it came to be!"  
  
Having vented his anger, he took several deep breaths to calm down. At a touch on his shoulder, he turned around to find Yvette standing there.  
  
"You'd say that? After all I did? Does that - I mean, can you - oh, blast! May I join the Knight Sabers?" Sean turned to fix her with a look cold as ice.  
  
"Lady, you are a person, as are all your breed, but you aren't a person I can trust or live with. You've tried several times to use your eyes to get your way, and you were quite willing to sell our lives for your gain. I'm not going to give you to the police because it'd be tantamount to a death sentence, but I never want to see you or hear from you again." With that, he turned and flew out the door, followed by the other Sabers, leaving Yvette to stand amid the wreckage of her life.  
  
*** ***  
  
Inside the Knight Sabers' command truck, Sean separated from Iczel while the others unsuited. Sylia came to stand beside him and took his hand.  
  
"Sean, do you remember what you 'sent' to me before you came to our aid?"  
  
Sean thought for a moment, then realized what Sylia was probably referring to. "Oh! Yeah! Um.. so you mean.."  
  
"I accept," Sylia replied before kissing Sean on the lips, waving a 'go-away' shooing motion behind his back as Priss and Nene hooted and made catcalls.  
  
Sean didn't care. [As far as I'm concerned, I'm in heaven,] he thought.  
  
  
END BUBBLEGUM CRIS-ICZ 4: SAY YES!  
  
To be continued in BG Cris-Icz 5: Pre-Crash!  



End file.
